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The  Branner  Geological  Library 


► 


LEUND-SIAHFOKDiIVMOR-IMVHraTr 


PBOCftEDINGS 


v   j  r  ■  0F  THK 


PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY 


OF     GLASGOW. 


VOL.  XI. 


4 


MDCCCLXXVII-MDCCCLXXIX . 


PUBLISHED   FOR   THE   SOCIETY    BY 

JOHN      SMITH      AND      SON, 
129  WEST  GEORGE  STREET,  GLASGOW. 

1879. 


SiS'JiS 


GLASGOW: 

PRINTED  BY   ROBERT  ANDERSON 

M   ANN   STREET. 


•  :'•  ..    :-:  r; :     :      ••;  .•:  .•.  •  •  ■  .•   .-.   •••  •  . 

v    •:  :/•  .•:•••:;     :     •  •  ••• :  :  •:    •    r.    :    y 
•    •     •    •»•••    •■..       •«  2  .'  r  •  *     ••»••••    •    •   • 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  XI. 


On  the  Resonanoe  of  Cavities.       By  Sir  William  Thomson,  LL.D., 

D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  President  of  the  Society 1 

On  some  Specimens  of  8teel.    By  Mr.  James  R.  Napier,  F.R.S.,  Vice- 
President,         2 

On  some  of  the  more  Striking  Relations  of  Meteorology  to  Public  Health. 
By  Mr.  Alexander  Buchan,  Secretary  of  the  Scottish  Meteorologcal 

Society, 3 

On  the  Comparative  Prevalence  of  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country. 

By  James  B.  Rnssell,  M.D.,  Medical  Officer  of  Health,  Glasgow,     .        '  8 
On  the  Regeneration  of  the  Sulphur  employed  in  the  Alkali  Manufacture, 
as  conducted  at  the  Works  of  Messrs.  Charles  Tennant  &  Co.,  St. 
Rollox,  by  the  "Mactear"  process.     By  James  Mactear,  F.C.S., 

London  and  Paris, 34 

On  an  Improved  System  of  Alakli  Manufacture.     By  James  Mactear, 

F.C.S.,  London  and  Paris, 44 

Observations  on  the  Contraction  of  Muscle  on  Stimulation  of  Nerve.  By 
John  Barlow,  M.B.,  M.R.C.S.E.,  Muirhead  Demonstrator  of  Physio- 
logy, University  of  Glasgow, 49 

An  Experiment  on  the  Disinfection  of  Enteric  Excreta.  By  John 
Dougall,  M.D.,  F.F.P.S.G.,  Lecturer  on  Materia  Medica  in  the 

Glasgow  Royal  Infirmary  School  of  Medicine, 51 

Physical  Life.  By  Andrew  Buchanan,  M.D.,  President  of  the  Faculty 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Glasgow,  and  one  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dents of  the  Glasgow  Philosophical  Society, 53 

Discussion  on  Dr.  Buchanan's  Paper, 37 

On  the  Chemical  and  Microscopical  Analysis  of  an  Unsound  Wine.     By 

Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier,  F.R.S.,  and  Professor  J.  G.  M4Kendrick,  M.D.,        93 
Discussion  on  Paper  by  Mr.  Napier  and  Dr.  M'Kendrick,  96 

Lichens  growing  on  Living  Leaves  from  the  Amazons.     By  Dr.  J.  Stirton,        99 
The  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors,  and  their  Influence  upon  Digestion 

and  Nutrition.     By  J.  J.  Coleman,  Esq.,  F.I.C.,  F.C.S.,  .112 

Discussion  on  Mr.  Coleman's  Paper,  .  ^ 127 

On  the  Necessity  of  a  General  Measure  of  Legislation  for  Scotland  with 
regard  to  Public  Health.  By  W.  C.  Spens,  Esq.,  Advocate,  Sheriff- 
Substitute  of  Lanarkshire 129 

Discussion  on  Mr.  Spens'  Paper, 144 

Experiments  on  the  Relative  Specific  Gravities  of  Solid  and  Melted 

Metals,  &&»  at  the  Temperature  of  Fusion.     By  Joseph  Whitley, 

Esq. — Communicated  by  Dr.  Henry  Muirhead,        ....       145 

Notes  on  some  of  the  Testing  Operations  involved  in  carrying  out  the 

Provisions  of  the  Alkali  Acts  1863  and  1874.     By  James  Mactear, 

F.C.S.,  F.I.C., 150 

On  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals  from  the  Carboniferous  Limestone  of 
Scotland,  with  a  short  sketch  of  the  various  methods  by  which  it 
has  been  attempted,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  to  delineate  the 
internal  structure  of  Fossil  Corals  of  that  Geological  Period.  By 
Mr.  James  Thomson,  F.G.S.,  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Sciences  of  liege,  and  Honorary  Member  of  the  Royal 

Ducal  Society  of  Jena, 161 

Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Law.     By  Mr.  Andrew  Wallace,  Inspector  of 

Foot,  Go  van  Combination, 177 

Discussion  on  Mr.  Wallace's  Paper, 192 

On  the  Genus  Cyathaxonia  and  several  New  Species  from  the  Carboni- 
ferous Limestone  of  Scotland.  By  Mr.  James  Thomson,  F.G.S., 
Corresponding  Member  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Sciences  of  Liege, 
Belgium,  and  Honorary  Member  of  the  Royal  Ducal  Society  of  Jena,      193 


iv*  Contents. 

PACK 

On  a  New  Method  of  determining  for  several  Thousand  Years  in  advance, 
the  Day  of  the  Week  corresponding  to  any  given  date.  By  Mr. 
James  Dickson, 257 

On  Purifying  the  Glasgow  Harbour,  and  rapidly  removing  the  Sewage. 

By  Mr.  Horatio  K.  Bromhead,  A.R.I.B.A.,  Glasgow,  267 

Discussion  on  Mr.  Bromhead's  Paper 276 

Eleven  Centuries  of  Chemistry.  Address  on  resigning  the  Presidency 
of  the  Chemical  Section.  By  Mr.  John  Ferguson,  M.A.,  Professor 
of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Glasgow, 281 

On  the  Absorption  of  Gases  by  Water  and  other  Fluids.  By  Mr.  James 
Snodgrass,  Senior  Assistant,  "Young"  Chair  of  Technical  Chem- 
istry,  300 

New  and  Rare  Lichens  from  India  and  the  Himalayas.      By  Dr.  James 

'  Stir  ton,  F.L.S. ,         .         .         .         .         •         .         .         .         .  306 

On  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals,  from  the  Carboniferous  Limestone 

Mr. 

Science  Society 
Member  of  the  Royal  Dacal  Society  of  Jena.     .....       323 


of  Scotland.      By  Mr.   James   Thomson,    F.G.S.,   Corresponding 
Member  of  the  Royal  Science  Society  of  Liege,  and  Honorary 


The  "Graham  Lecture, "  on  Molecular  Mobility.      By  Mr.  W.  Chandler 

Roberts,  F.R  8.,  Chemist  of  the  Mint 345 

Physiology  of  the  Turkish  Bath.     By  Mr.  W.  J.  Fleming,  M.B.,  365 

Remarks  on  the  Use  of  the  term  "Force."     By  Dr.  Henry  Muirhead. 

Cambuslang,  Vice-President, 370 

Some  Researches  on  the  Reactions  involved  in  the  Leblanc  Process  of 
Alkali  Manufacture.  By  Mr.  James  Mactear,  F.C.S.,  F.LC,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Chemical  Section, 374 

On  the  Liquefaction  of  Gases.     By  Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman,  F.I.C,  F.C.S.,  .       399 

On  the  Objectivity  of  Energy.     By  Dr.  Henry  Muirhead,  Cambuslang, 

Vice-President, 408 

On  House  Drainage  and  Ventilation.    By  Mr.  W.  P.  Buchan,  F.  R .  S.  S.  A . . 

Sanitary  Engineer, 414 

On  the  Modern  Manufacture  and  Application  of  Steel.  By  Mr.  J.  G. 
Fairweather,  C.E.,  F.S.A.,  Ac,  Assistant  Professor  of  Civil  En- 

Ceering  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh 454 
iations  in  the  Magnetic  Constituents  of  Minerals.     By  Mr.  J.  B. 

Hannay,  F.R.S.E.,  F.C.S., 481 

On  a  New  Method  of  Physico-Chemical  Investigation.     By  Mr.  J.  B. 

Hannay,  F.R.S.E.,  F.C.S.,* 484 

On  Certain  Changes  occurring  during  Fossilization.    By  Mr.  J.  B.  Hannay, 

F.R.&.L.,  F.t.o.,      .....         .....       488 

On  the  Heating  and  Ventilation  of  Turkish  Baths.     By  Mr.  J.  L. 

Bruce,  I.  A. ,  .  .        .        .         .  493 

Scheme  for  the  Removal  of  the  Sewage  of  Glasgow  and  the  adjoining 

Burghs.     By  Mr.  Alexander  Frew,  Civil  Engineer,  Glasgow,  .  507 

On  the  Action  of  Phosphorctted  Hydrogen  on  the  Animal  Organism. 

By  Dr.  John  Clark,  F.C.S., 517 

On  Magnetic  Iron  Sand  from  the  Kyles  of  Bute.    By  Mr.  R.  R.  Tatlock, 

F.R.S.E.,F.C.S 519 

Minutes,  including  Reports  on  State  of  the  Society  and  on  the  Library, 

Treasurer's  Accounts,  and  Reports  from  Sections,    .  209,  521 

Office- Bearers  of  Society  and  Committees  of  Council,  230,  554 

Office-Bearers  of  Sections, 232,  556 

Obituary  Notices, .       558 

Additions  to  the  Library, 234,  504 

List  of  Members  of  the  Society 247,  575 

Index  to  Volume  XL, 5S5 

Constitution  of  the  Society, End  of  Volume. 


••  •  N 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF  THE 


PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY    OF    GLASGOW. 


SEVENTY-FIFTH  SESSION. 


I. — On  the  Resonance  of  Cavities,      By  Sir   William   Thomson", 
LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  President  of  the  Society. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  November  21,  1877.] 


[Abstract.] 

Sir  William  Thomson  pointed  out,  in  the  first  place,  that  the 
general  principle  upon  which  the  influence  of  the  resonance  of 
cavities  depends  is,  that  the  air  within  a  cavity  is  so  limited  as 
regards  its  mass,  that  it  is  capable  of  acquiring  definite  vibrations 
analogous  to  those  of  a  musical  string.  A  short  sketch  of  the 
general  character  of  the  vibrations  of  a  musical  string,  as  well  as  of 
columns  of  air  within  pipes,  was  then  given,  and  the  connection 
between  these  modes  of  vibration  and  the  harmonic  tones  to  which 
they  give  rise  was  explained. 

The  effect  of  a  vibrating  body  upon  the  mass  of  air  within  a  cavity 
in  its  vicinity  was  then  described  and  illustrated  experimentally. 
It  was  shown  that,  when  the  fundamental  note  of  the  vibrator  cor- 
responds with  the  time  of  vibration  of  the  air  within  the  cavity, 
that  air  is  forced  into  a  state  of  vibration,  and  the  note  emitted  by 
the  cavity  goes  to  reinforce  that  of  the  vibrator  itself  On  tho  other 
hand,  when  the  note  of  the  vibrator  is  far  from  corresponding  with 
the  time  of  vibration  of  the  air  within  the  cavity,  a  comparatively 
small  effect  is  exercised  by  tho  vibrator  upon  the  latter.      The 

Vol.  XL— No.  1.  b 


*•  • « 

Jfyiio'sophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


•  «•' 


•  i 


inference  waa/tfeiice  drawn  that  cavities  must  have  the  power  of 
selecting  frcftrf-o,  multiplicity  of  notes  those  which  correspond  with 
their  own  ;*n>o*des  of  vibration,  and  this  conclusion  was  also  proved 
by  experiment. 

The  beaYing  of  these  principles  upon  the  production  of  the  vowel- 

80unJs'«and  of  speech  generally  was  then  explained,  by  showing  that 

tlte/tajcal  chords  play  the  part  of  vibrators,  and  that  the  cavity  or 

AJjJVities  above  the  larynx   reinforce  such  overtones  of  the  vocal 

chords  as  are  in  unison  with  one  or  more  of  the  modes  of  vibration 

.  "v  of  the  air  within  these  cavities. 

The  paper  was  brought  to  a  close  by  an  explanation  of  the  musical 
notes  produced  by  a  glass  tube  open  at  both  ends,  and  in  the  interior 
of  which  a  small  hydrogen  flame  is  burning. 


II. — On  some  Specimens  of  Steel. 
.By  Mr.  James  R.  Napier,  F.R.S.,  Vice-President. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  November  21,  1877.] 


[Abstract.] 

Mb.  James  R.  Napier  exhibited  some  severely  tested  specimens 
of  a  very  homogeneous  metal  manufactured  by  the  Steel  Company 
of  Scotland.  The  specimens  had  been  mostly  folded  so  as  to  form 
four  ply  or  leaves,  and  were  hammered  flat.  They  showed 
remarkable  toughness,  no  flaw  or  defect  being  visible.  One 
specimen,  a  steel  bowl  about  7  inches  in  diameter,  which  had  been 
originally  a  disc  of  9  inches  diameter,  had  been  brought  to  its 
present  form  by  being  forced  cold  through  a  ring  of  about  G?  incites 
diameter  by  means  of  a  punch  of  about  2]  inches  diameter.  It 
also  showed  no  defects,  and  sounded  as  a  bell  when  struck.  Its 
gradual  deflection  during  the  process  of  being  forced  through  the 
ring  is  shown  in  the  following  table  as  well  as  the  behaviour  of 
a  similar  disc  of  iron. 


Mr.  Buchax  on  the  Relations  of  Meteorology  to  Public  Health.  3 

Bulging  Tests. 

Plates  0  inches  diameter  forced  through  a  ring  6}  inches  diameter ; 
diameter  of  punch  2£  inches  at  point. 


Iron  pUte,  thickness  019  inch. 

Steel  plate,  thickness  018  inch. 

Tons. 

Deflection. 

Tons. 

Deflection. 

o 

0-395  inch. 

2 

0  312  inch. 

3 

0-480    „ 

3 

0437    „ 

4 

0750    „ 

4 

0*520    „ 

5 

0-875    „ 

5 

0-687    „ 

6 

Burst. 

6 

0812    „ 

8 

1-030    „ 

10 

1-250    „ 

12 

1-375    „ 

14 

1-500    „ 

16 

1-687    „ 

18 

1*812    „ 

20 

1-937    „ 

22 

2187    „ 

Mr.  Napier  added  that  if  our  ships  were  made  of  such  material 
the  old  rocks  would  be  less  feared  than  they  are,  and  collisions 
-would  be  very  much  less  disastrous  in  their  results. 


III. — On  Some  of  Hue  more  striking  Relations  of  Meteorology  to  Public 
Health.  By  Mr.  Alexander  Buchan,  Secretary  of  the 
Scottish  Meteorological  Society. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  December  5,  1877.] 


[AB8TRACT.] 

The  paper  was  a  resume  of  an  extensive  inquiry  carried  on  by 
Dr.  Arthur  Mitchell  and  the  author,  together  with  important 
continuations  of  the  same  subject  that  have  just  been  completed. 
It  was  illustrated  by  a  large  number  of  carefully-executed  diagrams, 
exhibiting  the  principal  results  obtained  during  the  course  of 
these  investigations  into  the  mortality  and  weather  returns  during 
thirty  years  for  London  and  for  all  the  other  large  towns  in  the 


4  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

British  Islands  for  which  weekly  returns  are  at  present  available. 
After  a  general  reference  to  the  curves  for  the  whole  mortality, 
for  the   mortality  for  different  ages,  and  for  the  mortality  from 
different   specific   diseases,  the  curves  for  diarrhoea,  scarlet  fever, 
and   whooping-cough   were  discussed    with    some   minuteness    of 
detail.     The  curve  for  bowel  complaints,  for  instance,  was  shown 
to  be  low  everywhere  from  October  to  June;  but  in  July,  August, 
and   September  it  shot  up  to  an  alarming  height — amounting  in 
some  cases   to   500  per  cent,  above  the  average;    and  this  curvo 
showed   further   that  diarrhoea  and   British   cholera   on   the   one 
hand,    and   dysentery   and   Asiatic   cholera  on  the   other,  formed 
themselves   into   two   distinct  groups.     The  inference  was  thenco 
drawn  that  the  diverse  character  of  these  curves   was  due  to  the 
various  degrees  of  deepseatedness  in  the  system  of  these  diseases. 
The  curvo  was  then  separated  into  different  ages,  from  which  it 
appeared  that  nearly  the  whole  of  the  deaths,  amounting  to  more 
than  80  per   cent,   of  the  whole,  occurred  among  infants   under 
one   year;   the   deaths  in  youth  and  middle-age  being  singularly 
few,  but   showing  a   considerable   increase   among   tho   aged.     It 
was  further  shown  that  the  summer  excess  of  the  whole  mortality 
disclosed  by   the  curves  of  all  the  large  towns  was  entirely  due 
to  deaths  from  bowel  complaints.     The  influence  of  exceptional 
seasons   on   this   class    of    diseases   was    strikingly    shown    by    a 
reference  to  London  for  the  three  summers  1859-60-61.     In  1859 
the  summer  was  exceptionally  hot,  and  in  that  year  the  diarrhoea 
curve  rose  to  an  exceptional  height;  tho  summer  temperature  of 
1860  was,  on  the  other  hand,  exceptionally  low,  and  the  deaths 
from  diarrhoea  were  by  far  the  lowest  of  these  years ;  while  the 
summer  of  1861  was  of  an  ordinary  temperature,  and  the  deaths 
from  this  disease  were  of  the  average  amount.     The  thirty  years' 
curves  for  whooping-cough  and  scarlet  fever  were  broken  up  into 
curves  for  five  years'  periods,  and  it  was  shown  that  each  of  these 
presented  the   same    characters   as   the   original    curves,   all    the 
prominent  phases  being  alike,  the  agreement  in  time  being  almost 
to   a  week,   and   the   only   difference  consisting  in  the  degree  of 
virulence    of  the    disease.       Further,   the   curves   for   these   two 
diseases  as  regards  the  other  large  towns  agreed  in  all  their  main 
features.     It  was  thence  inferred  that  there  is  something  connected 
with  the  weather  of  spring  which  tends  to  reduce  the  mortality 
from  scarlet  fever,  and  so  to  stamp  it  out,  but  that,  on  the  other 
hand,   there  is  something  connected  with   late  autumn  weather 
under  which  this  disease  attains  its  maximum  fatality.     A  similar 


Mr.  Buchan  on  the  Relations  of  Meteorology  to  Public  Health.  5 

conclusion  was  also  drawn  with  respect  to  whooping-cough,  which, 
however,  attains  everywhere  in  Great  Britain  its  maximum  severity 
in  early  spring,  and  its  minimum  severity  in  autumn. 

Mr  Buchan  concluded  his   interesting   and   valuable   paper  as 
follows : — "  These  facts  brought  before  you  suggest  inquiries  into 
the   public   health    which   call    for   the    most    serious    attention. 
Diarrhoea,  bronchitis,  scarlet  fever,  and  whooping-cough   are  per- 
haps  the  four   diseases  which   more   instantly  call  for  attention, 
from  the   alarming  fatality  accompanying  them,  from  the  serious 
consequences  often  following  in  the  cases  of  those   who  recover, 
and  lastly  from  the  implicit  and  intimate  obedience  they  show  to 
weather  influences.     As   regards   diarrhoea,  one  of  the  first  steps 
to  be   taken   is-  to  ascertain  by  registration  whether  the   infant 
mortality  be  equally  distributed  among  all  infants,  however  nursed, 
or  whether  it  be  not  rather  very  unequally  distributed,  according 
as  they  are  nursed  at  the  breast,  fed  on  cow's  milk,  or  fed  on  slops. 
The  unusually  low  temperature   of  December,    1874,   largely  in- 
creased the  death-rate  everywhere  over  the  British  Isles, — notably 
in  Glasgow — from  bronchitis  and  other  diseases  of  the  respiratory 
organs,  and  from  many  diseases  connected  with  the  nervous  system 
and  the   skin.     The  gross   number  of  deaths  registered   in   the 
different  British  large  towns   showed   that   the   excess   of  deaths 
thereby   caused   was   very   unequally   distributed.      If  there   had 
then  been   anything  like  an  adequate  system  of  registration  for 
the  large  towns,  it  might  have  been  possible,  reasoning  from  the 
specific  diseases  most  fatal  at  each  place,  to  lay  the  finger  on  those 
local  conditions  inimical  to  health  to  which  the  high  mortality 
in  each  place  was  due.     During  December,  January,  and  February 
the  mortality  among  females  rises  to   11*2   per   cent,    above   the 
average,  whereas  among  males  it  only  rises  to  7*8  per  cent.     But 
inasmuch  as  the  mortality  as  regards  sexes  is  not  given   by  the 
Registrar-General   for  the  different  causes  of  deaths,  and  for  the 
different  ages,  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  of  the  excess 
during  the  coldest  months  of  the  year  is  due  to  sex,  how  much 
to  occupation,  and  how  much — say,  to  their  boots  or  other  fashions. 
Thus  a  comparison  of  the  meteorological  with  the  mortality  returns 
shows  in  a  striking   manner  the  influence  of  particular  types  of 
weather  in  largely  increasing  or  diminishing  the  number  of  deaths 
from  particular  diseases.     Periods  of  unusual  cold,  for  instance, 
combined  with   dampness  in  the  end  of  autumn,  have  a  propor- 
tionally increased  mortality  from    scarlet   and  typhoid  fevers;  of 
cold  with   dryness  in  spring  have  an  increased   mortality  from 


6  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

brain  diseases  and  whooping-cough ;  of  cold  in  winter  have  an 
enormously  increased  fatality  from  all  bronchial  affections ;  and 
of  heat  in  summer  present  a  startling,  and,  in  many  cases,  an 
appalling  death-rate  from  bowel  complaints." 

In  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Buciiax  for  his  kindness  in 
putting  before  the  Society  the  results  of  so  much  arduous  investi- 
gation, 

The  Chairman  remarked,  that  amongst  our  scientific  societies 
none  appeared  to  deserve  or  to  require  more  assistance  than  the 
Scottish  Meteorological  Society,  and  he  expressed  the  hope  that  it 
would  receive  such  public  support  as  would  allow  it  to  prosecute 
still  further  researches  of  national  importance. 

In  answer  to  several  questions  regarding  the  extraordinary 
fatality  from  bowel  complaints  in  Leicester, 

Mr.  Buchan  said  that  a  Commission  had  made  a  careful  inquiry 
into  the  circumstances  of  that  town,  and  had  found  that  the 
mortality  in  question  prevailed  principally  among  the  families  of 
the  well-paid  artisans,  and  was  comparatively  slight  among  the 
upper  classes,  and  amongst  the  very  poor.  It  was  also  found  by 
the  Commission  that  the  two  latter  classes  of  the  community  dwelt 
in  parts  of  the  town  where  the  soil  was  sandy,  and  where  the  rain 
got  well  away,  while  the  diseased  portions  of  the  town  were  upon 
clay.  He  also  said  that  it  did  not  appear  that  the  high  mortality 
amongst  children  in  Leicester  was  due  to  the  employment  of 
mothers  in  factories. 

Councillor  W.  R.  W.  Smith  was  inclined  to  attribute  the  marked 
differences  in  the  death-rates  from  bowel  complaints  in  the  various 
towns  to  the  quality  of  the  water  supply  in  the  cases  cited.  In 
corroboration  of  his  view  he  referred  to  the  history  of  cholera 
in  Glasgow  in  connection  with  the  introduction  of  (1)  Gorbals 
gravitation  water,  and  (2)  of  Loch  Katrine  water. 

Mr.  James  Thomson,  F.G.S.,  was  also  inclined  to  regard  the 
mortality  in  the  different  parts  of  Great  Britain  as  in  a  consider- 
able degree  due  to  the  water  supply.  He  instanced  the  fact  that 
the  three  towns  on  Mr.  Buchan's  list,  Plymouth,  Bristol,  and  Edin- 
burgh, having  the  lowest  mortality  from  bowel  complaints,  were  all 
situated  on  the  lower  carboniferous  rocks,  and  he  therefore  thought 


Mr.  Buchan  on  the  Relations  of  Meteorology  to  Public  Health.  7 

it  probable  that  in  the  warm  months  of  the  year  the  lime  absorbed 
by  these  waters  exercised  an  important  cleansing  effect  upon  the 
organic  matters  contained  in  them,  and  so  contributed  to  their 
healthfulness. 

Dr.  Andbew  Buchanan  expressed  the  opinion  that  while  the 
results  brought  forward  by  Mr.  Buchan  were  very  interesting  and 
valuable,  still  it  must  be  remembered  that  weather  formed  but  one 
item  in  the  list  of  causes  of  disease,  referring  for  illustration  to  the 
climates  of  Great  Britain  and  India. 

At  the  request  of  the  President, 

Mr.  E.  M.  Dixon,  the  Secretary,  stated  that  the  light  which  ho 
was  able  to  throw  upon  the  prevalence  of  diarrhecal  diseases  during 
the  hot  period  of  the  year  lay  in  the  figures  obtained  during  the 
present  summer  with  respect  to  the  varying  amount  of  nitrogenous 
organic  matter  in  the  air  at  six  points  in  Glasgow.  According  to 
the  analysis  that  had  been  constantly  carried  on  from  the  month  of 
May  up  to  the  present  time,  it  appeared  that  a  steady  increase  in 
the  amount  of  organic  matters  had  taken  place  at  all  the  stations 
along  with  the  increase  of  temperature,  and  that  now,  when  the 
temperature  is  falling,  the  amount  of  these  matters  is  also  decreas- 
ing. In  proof  of  these  statements  Mr.  Dixon  quoted  the  numerical 
results  which  he  had  obtained.  Referring  to  the  station  under  ono 
of  the  arches  of  Jamaica  Street  Bridge,  he  showed  that  the  organic 
matter  in  the  air  there  obtained  was  less  than  that  found  in  the 
air  in  crowded  parts  of  the  city;  and  while  throwing  out  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  comparative  purity  of  the  air  over  the  river  during 
the  past  summer  might  have  been  due  in  great  measure  to  the 
copious  rains,  which  had  washed  out  the  harbour,  and  to  the  low 
temperature,  which  had  probably  prevented  the  decomposition  of 
organic  substances  in  the  river,  he  pointed  out  that  the  evidence,  if 
taken  as  it  stood,  tended  to  show  that  the  air  of  the  city  was  more 
polluted  by  overcrowding  than  by  the  impurities  of  the  river. 

Mr.  Buchan  suggested  an  explanation  why  they  might  expect 
the  air  below  the  arches  of  the  bridge  to  be  comparatively  pure, 
instancing  the  effect  of  a  river  in  the  way  of  creating  a  draught  of 
air  above  itself. 

Mr.  Mayer  said  the  probability  was  some  part  of  the  mortality 
of  Leicester  and  other  inland  towns  was  due  to  the  use  of  fish 


8  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgoic. 

during  the  hot  period  of  the  year,  which  could  not  be  brought  there 
in  a  perfectly  fresh  state. 

Dr.  Morton  referred  to  the  great  importance  of  a  complete* 
system  of  registration  of  disease,  and  showed  how  every  individual 
might  contribute  to  that  end. 


.  IV. — On  the  Comparative  Prevalence  of  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and 
Country.  By  James  B.  Russell,  M.D.,  Medical  Officer  of 
Health,  Glasgow. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  December  19,  1877.] 


Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen, — My  first  duty  is  to  thank  the 
members  of  the  Sanitary  Section  of  the  Philosophical  Society  for 
making  me  their  President,  and  so  enabling  me,  from  the  elevation 
of  that  position,  to  address  the  parent  Society  to-night.  Sanitary 
Science  is  not  one  which  progresses  by  its  principles  or  basement 
facts  being  the  property  of  a  few.  The  intelligence  of  the  majority 
will  always  mark  the  farthest  limit  of  sanitary  advancement. 
Every  opportunity,  therefore,  afforded  to  a  man  in  the  official 
position  which  I  have  the  honour  to  occupy,  of  imparting  informa- 
tion to  the  general  public,  should  be  welcomed.  Therefore,  apart 
from  the  personal  honour,  I  value  my  elevation  to  the  presidency 
for  its  useful  opportunity. 

The  thought  has  probably  occurred  to  many  of  you — how  little 
do  we  know  of  the  contemporary  prevailing  diseases  and  general 
health  of  Scotland  at  large.  There  arc  eight  little  areas  within 
which  all  is  made  luminous  from  week  to  week  by  the  Registrar- 
General's  returns,  and  in  some  cases  by  the  reports  of  local  officials*, 
but  outside,  over  the  general  surface  of  the  country,  all  is  darkness. 
Unless  when  an  epidemic  in  the  country  discloses  itself  by  sending 
some  sparks  into  the  midst  of  a  largo  town,  or  when  a  local  corre- 
spondent is  sufficiently  independent  of  local  influences  to  let  the 
truth  out  in  a  city  newspaper,  the  mass  of  the  public  have  no 
opportunity  of  ever  knowing  what  is  going  on.  Even  officials  liko 
myself,  whose  business  it  is  to  have  such  knowledge,  must  wait 
for  three  or  four  years  until  the  Annual  Detailed  Report  of  the 


Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.     9 

Registrar-General  appears,  when  we  can  only  make  the  same  use 
of  the  facts  as  we  can  of  the  plagues  of  the  Middle  Ages — hold  them 
up  as  a  warning  to  future  generations. 

I  wish  to-night  to  give  you  some  information  about  extra-urban 
Scotland.  There  are  some  diseases  whose  gravity  is  not  to  be 
measured  by  the  number  of  persons  they  kill  in  comparison  with 
many  other  diseases,  but  by  the  sanitary  and  social  meaning  or 
their  prevalence.  They  are  indicative,  it  may  be,  of  social  de- 
moralisation, or  of  general  sanitary  slovenliness  and  neglect,  and 
are  often  the  single  exactly  measurable  item  of  a  widespread  injury 
to  health  and  loss  of  life.  For  this  reason  I  have  chosen  a  class  of 
diseases  which  are  a  delicate  index  of  the  cleanliness  of  a  com- 
munity, though  they  are  not  a  measure  of  all  the  evils  flowing  out 
of  uncleanliness ;  and  I  propose  by  them  to  test  the  comparative 
success  of  town  and  country  in  getting  rid  of  their  excreta  without 
the  production  of  disease.  A  word  is  necessary  on  the  selection  or 
our  test  diseases. 

The  condition  of  health  of  a  community  is  the  ultimate  outcome 
of  a  vast  number  of  circumstances  acting  and  reacting  upon  one 
another,  co-operating  with  or  neutralising  one  another.  It  is  vain 
therefore  to  seek,  by  selecting  one  circumstance,  and  by  setting 
against  it  the  total  result  of  all,  to  establish  a  relative  variation  and 
probable  causal  connection.  A  physical  condition  such  as  that  of 
density  of  population,  covers  such  a  range  of  effects  upon  the  prime 
elements  of  health,  to  which  it  gives  short  and  convenient  expres- 
sion, that  we  can  safely  conclude  as  to  the  causal  connection  between 
it  and  health ;  but  we  can  only  do  so  intelligently  when  we  by 
analysis  isolate  those  effects.  Other  physical  agents,  such  as  chemical 
vapours  in  large  towns,  so  coincide  in  their  line  of  action  with 
other  factors  of  disease,  that  it  is  impossible  to  prove  their  deleteri- 
ous influence,  and  equally  impossible  to  prove  that  they  have  no 
such  influence.  But  the  relation  between  some  diseases  and  their 
causes  is  so  precise  and  well  ascertained,  that  the  existence  of  the 
cause  may  be  detected  by  the  presence  of  the  disease ;  and  this  is 
the  case  with  the  specific  filth-diseases.  Not  that  the  uncleanncss 
associated  with  them  produces  no  other  injury  to  health  than  those 
diseases.  It  co-operates  with  the  general  array  of  causes  which 
make  an  unhealthy  community,  but  the  effects  to  which  we  refer 
are  of  such  a  nature  that  without  forces  in  some  form  there  could 
be  no  such  effects !  Although  alvine  excretion  were  absolutely 
abolished  in  a  community,  there  might  still  be  typhus  fever,  scarlet 
fever,  measles,  hooping-cough,  but  there  could  not  be  enteric  fever 


10  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

or  cholera,  and  probably  not  diphtheria.  Whatever  influence  the 
mismanagement  of  this  form  of  tilth  may  have  upon  the  propagation 
of  those  diseases,  with  the  origination  of  which  it  has  nothing  to 
do,  is  so  immaterial  and  insignificant  in  relation  to  the  great  pre- 
dominant laws  of  their  propagation,  as  practically  to  be  incapable  of 
separate  estimation.  But  with  the  propagation  as  with  the  origina- 
tion of  such  diseases  as  enteric  fever,  diphtheria,  and  cholera,  the 
position  is  exactly  reversed — the  faecal  arrangements  are  every- 
thing. The  correctness  of  this  position  being  granted,  it  follows 
that  it  is  not  by  appealing  to  the  statistics  of  zymotic  disease  in  tho 
mass  that  we  can  arrive  at  accurate  conclusions  as  to  the  merits  of 
tho  fiecal  arrangements  of  communities,  not  as  they  might  be,  or 
ouglit  to  be,  but  as  they  are. 

I  select  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever  as  the  two  purely  fiecal 
diseases  which  are  most  widely  distributed  over  this  country. 
Diarrhoea  is  also  in  many  cases  the  result  of  fiscal  contamination 
of  water  and  air,  but  it  is  so  largely  also  a  result  of  certain  dietetic 
errors  in  the  upbringing  of  infants,  especially  in  large  towns,  that 
the  statistics  of  its  prevalence  cannot  safely  be  applied  to  the  pur- 
pose in  hand  without  laborious  collateral  check-inquiries.  Indeed, 
my  observations  lead  me  to  this  general  conclusion  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  a  diarrheal  death-rate — that  if  infantile  chiefly,  as  it  is  in 
all  manufacturing  communities,  it  points  to  serious  social  evils — 
evils  which  pervade  the  home — the  prevalence  of  illegitimacy,  or 
causes  such  as  female  labour,  or  the  domestic  disorganisation  of 
drunkonness,  which  practically  place  even  the  legitimate  child  in 
the  same  circumstances  as  the  illegitimate.  I  found,  on  an  analysis 
of  the  deaths  under  one  year  in  Glasgow,  during  a  period  of  six 
months,  that  63  per  cent,  of  the  legitimate  were  suckled,  and  only 
14  per  cent,  of  the  illegitimate ;  but  still  more  important  was  the 
discovery  that  of  the  legitimate  but  unsuckhd  infants,  no  less  than  69 
per  cent,  died  of  diarrhoeal  and  other  diseases  of  nutrition,  and  of 
the  illegitimate  68  per  cent.;  while  of  the  legitimate  but  suckled  infants 
only  45  per  cent.,  and  of  the  illegitimate  but  suckled  43  per  cent, 
died  of  those  diseases — a  closeness  of  agreement,  in  the  manner 
of  their  death,  which  warrants  my  assertion  that  the  want  of 
maternal  nourishment  and  the  greater  general  care  and  solicitude 
bestowed  by  a  nursing  mother  upon  her  child,  really  places  both 
the  legitimate  and  the  illegitimate  infant  upon  the  same  platform, 
and  that  one  which  tends  to  death  by  diarrhoeal  and  allied 
diseases. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  believe  that  a  high  adult  diarrhoeal  death- 


Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Countiy.  11 

rate  indicates  most  probably  an  impure  water  supply.  My  reasons 
for  this  belief  are  derived  from  the  experience  of  Glasgow  before  and 
after  the  introduction  of  Loch  Katrine  water.  We  had  in  this 
alteration  in  one  of  the  most  important  health-factors  of  a  com- 
munity, made  at  a  precise  time,  one  of  those  rare  opportunities  of 
observing  an  effect  upon  health  under  circumstances  of  almost 
experimental  accuracy.  The  result  was  this — Taking  three  periods 
of  time,  the  first  under  the  old  water  supply,  of  six  years,  from 
1855  to  1860,  allowing  the  latter  year  for  the  effecting  of  the 
change;  the  second  under  the  new,  from  1861  to  1870;  and  the 
third  from  1871  to  1876,  for  the  sake  of  comparison.  The  diarrhceal 
death-rate  at  all  ages  fell  from  136  to  81  per  100,000,  and  I  may 
say  the  effect  was  immediate,  even  in  the  first  year.  But  this 
improvement  was  confined  to  the  population  above  five  years  of 
age.  There  the  death-rate  fell  at  once  from  62  to  28  in  the  first 
period,  and  still  further  to  24  in  the  most  recent  period ;  while,  on 
the  contrary,  the  infantile  death-rate  was  409  immediately  before, 
411  immediately  after,  and  463  in  the  most  recent  period.  I  fear 
we  must  look  deeper  than  our  water  supply,  or  any  other  general 
physical  condition,  for  the  explanation  of  this  rise  in  the  diarrhceal 
death-rate  among  Glasgow  children.  It  makes  me  doubt  whether 
the  children  of  the  working  classes  have  benefited  by  their  pros- 
perity, or  whether  they  have  not  rather  suffered  by  the  consequent 
self-indulgence  of  their  parents. 

I  have  said  enough  to  show  that  in  the  aggregate  diarrhoea  is  not 
a  cause  of  death  which  can  be  safely  introduced  in  this  portion  of 
our  present  inquiry.  Cholera,  again,  is  in  this  country  wholly  an 
epidemic  disease,  dependent  for"  introduction  upon  circumstances 
incident  to  traffic  with  infected  ports,  trade  or  immigration,  water, 
&c,  upon  which  I  hope,  during  the  currency  of  this  session,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Sanitary  Section,  Dr.  Christie,  will  contribute 
from  the  abundant  stores  of  his  personal  knowledge.  This  being 
so,  the  insanitary  conditions  favourable  to  its  spread  may  be  equally 
present  in  two  districts,  and  yet  to  the  one  the  seeds  of  cholera  may 
be  brought  and  not  to  the  other.  On  the  other  hand,  enteric  fever 
and  diphtheria  are  endemic;  their  specific  germs  are  very  generally 
diffused,  so  that  their  activity  is  a  very  safe  indication  of  the  pre- 
sence, and  accurate  measure  of  the  degree  of  the  presence  of  condi- 
tions favourable  to  their  development. 

"We  cannot  in  Scotland  go  far  back  with  our  statistics  of  death  in 
the  form  of  a  national  register,  which  is  the  only  safe  source  of 
information.     The  Scotch  Registration  Act  came  into  operation  in 


12  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

1855  ;  but  diphtheria  was  not  distinguished  as  a  cause  of  death  by 
the  Scotch  Registrar-General  until  1857.*  Enteric  fever  was  not 
distinguished  from  the  general  class  "  Fever "  by  the  Scotch 
Registrar-General  until  1865.f  There  are  therefore  no  statistics 
available  regarding  those  test  diseases  until  those  comparatively 
recent  dates. 

Before  proceeding  to  deal  with  those  statistics,  I  must  make 
another  preliminary  remark  in  explanation  of  the  definition  of 
diphtheria  and  enteric  fever.  It  has  been  customary  to  classify 
croup  with  diphtheria  in  our  local  statistics,  the  reason  being  that 
they  are  sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish,  and  may  therefore  be 
occasionally  confounded  by  mistakes  in  diagnosis.  I  am  satisfied, 
however,  after  the  close  scrutiny  of  the  circumstances  surrounding 
those  diseases,  as  classified  from  the  registrar  s  books,  necessitated 
by  this  inquiry,  that  they  are  distinguished  with  sufficient  accuracy 
to  give  them  in  the  mass  a  perfectly  distinct  character,  and  there- 
fore a  perfectly  distinct  sanitary  meaning.  Croup  has  all  the 
features  of  the  class  of  acute  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs.  I 
hope  to  make  this  apparent  to  you  later  on,  and  therefore  employ 
diphtheria  alone  for  our  present  purpose.  Then,  as  to  enteric  fever, 
I  have  added  to  the  deaths  specified  by  that  name  those  classified  as 
infantile  fever.  It  is  now  universally  admitted  that  the  diseases 
are  the  same. 

From  the  first  publication  of  the  vital  statistics  of  Scotland,  the 
Scotch  Registrar-General  has  made  a  most  useful  and  intelligent 
attempt  to  subdivide  tho  country  into  statistical  groups  of  districts 
which  would  illustrate  "  the  influence  of  locality  on  the  prevalence 
and  fatality  of  different  diseases."  £ 

From  1855  to  1871  only  three  such  groups  were  instituted. 
Theso  were  called  the  Insular,  the  Mainland-Rural,  and  tho  Town 
Districts.  They  are  thus  described  in  the  Census  Report  for  1861, 
and  it  will  bo  necessary  for  you  to  remember  it,  so  as  to  understand 
tho  statistics  to  be  brought  beforo  you.  "Tho  Insular  group  of 
Districts  consists  of  Orkney,  Shetland,  and  Bute,  with  the  insular 
districts  of  Ross  and  Cromarty,  Inverness  and  Argyle.  The  Tow?i 
Districts  embrace  all  tho  towns  with  populations  above  10,000 
inhabitants,  as  well  as  the  suburban  districts  of  Govan  and 
Barony,  and  the  Coatbridge  district  of  Old  Monkland;  whilo 
the  Mainland- Rural  Districts  consist    of    the   remainder   of  the 

•  By  the  English  in  1859.  f  By  the  English  in  1869. 

X  First  Annual  Report,  1855,  p.  11. 


Dr.  J.  B.  Eussell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  13 

Mainland  Districts   of  Scotland  not   included   in  the  town  dis- 
tricts." * 

This  arrangement  was  maintained  until  the  census  of  1871,  when 
it  was  found  that  many  of  the  towns  had  grown  into  a  class  by 
themselves,  distinguished  by  their  magnitude  from  the  rest,  while 
many  villages  had  grown  into  towns,  and  so  must  be  excluded  from 
the  mainland-rural  districts.  Accordingly  the  three  groups  were 
expanded  into  five,  of  which  the  following  is  the  description,  to 
which  also  your  attention  is  required  : — "Group  I.  Tfie  principal 
towns  (eight  in  number),  each  containing  at  least  25,000  inhabitants; 
group  II.  The  large  towns,  each  containing  not  less  than  10,000, 
nor  more  than  25,000  inhabitants ;  group  III.  The  small  toums, 
each  with  at  least  2,000,  and  not  more  than  1 0,000  inhabitants ; 
group  IV.  The  Mainland-Rural  Districts,  from  which  are  of  course 
excluded  all  towns  with  2,000  or  more  inhabitants ;  group  V.  The 
Insular  Districts,  which  include  the  whole  population  of  the  islands 
on  our  coasts,  but  from  which  are  of  course  excluded  the  inhabitants 
of  the  four  small  towns — Kirkwall,  Lerwick,  Stornoway,  and 
Rothesay."  f 

Now  let  me  direct  your  attention  to  the  diagrams  (Plates  I. — 
III.),  on  which  is  depicted  the  history  of  diphtheria  and  enteric 
fever,  so  far  as  recorded  in  our  national  death-registers,  year  by 
year,  in  those  subdivisions  of  Scotland.  The  town  districts  are 
black,  and  the  other  districts  are  indicated  by  difference  of 
shading.  The  year  is  marked  at  the  head  of  each  group  of 
columns,  and  the  black  bar  drawn  across  each  group  shows  the 
mean  for  all  Scotland  in  each  year.  The  height  of  each  column 
represents  the  proportion  of  deaths  per  million  of  the  population, 
as  does  the  position  of  the  black  bar.  It  was  necessary  to  adopt 
this  unusual  scale  because  all  the  death-rates  with  which  we  have 
to  deal,  if  expressed  in  the  usual  way,  per  1,000  of  population, 
would  be  less  than  one,  and  the  majority  of  the  differences  would  be 
in  the  second  decimal. 

Look  first  at  the  diagram  which  represents  the  yearly  death-rates 
from  Diphtheria  (Plate  I.)  This  is  much  more  interesting  and 
valuable  than  the  corresponding  diagram  of  enteric  fever,  inasmuch 
as  it  shows  the  whole  history  of  that  disease  as  an  epidemic  since 
its  reappearance  in  this  country.  The  Registrar-General  tells  us, — 
Diphtheria  first  showed  itself  in  an  epidemic  form  in  Scotland  in 


<t 


•  Census  Beport,  1861,  vol  ii.,  p.  ix.    For  detailed  list  of  districts  in  each 
group,  see  p.  lxv. 

t  Report  of  Census,  1871,  vol.  L,  p.  xi. 


14  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

1857,  but  only  in  a  few  isolated  spots,  having  apparently  no  con- 
nection with  each  other,  and  chiefly  in  sequestered  rural  situations,  in 
some  of  which  tiie  sanitary  condition  was  very  bad" *  Observe,  then, 
that  it  first  attacked  the  rural  districts,  not  the  towns;  and  we  may 
add  that  this  was  not  a  feature  peculiar  to  Scotland.  In  England, 
also,  at  the  same  time,  it  first  appeared  and  first  spread  epidemically, 
not  in  the  cities  of  England,  but  in  the  hamlets  and  country 
districts. 

Observe,  first,  the  position  of  the  black  horizontal  bars,  which 
show  that  from  1857  the  epidemic  rose  gradually  until  it  reached 
its  acme  in  18C8,  from  which  it  fell  slowly  to  a  point  of  almost 
uniform  prevalency  in  1867  to  1870.  Since  then  it  has  risen  steadily 
until  1873,  to  fall  again  in  1874,  when  our  information  ceases. t 

This  is  the  progress  of  the  wave  over  the  country  as  a  whole, 
but  when  we  look  to  its  distribution  in  the  different  districts  of  the 
country,  we  see  that  in  the  period  1857  to  1870,  while  the  epidemic 
rise  and  fall  is  distinctly  marked  in  the  rural,  mainland-rural,  and 
town  districts,  the  crest  of  the  wave  is  highest  in  the  mainland- 
rural,  next  highest  in  the  insular,  and  lowest  in  the  town  districts, 
the  respective  highest  death-rates  being  720,  600,  and  530  per 
million  inhabitants.  Not  only  so,  but,  taking  each  individual  year, 
you  will  observe  that  in  twelve  the  niainland-rural  rises  above  the 
towns,  in  one  they  are  equal,  and  in  only  one  is  the  town  group 
higher.  In  four  years  even  the  insular-rural  columns  overtop  the 
towns.  The  right  hand  portion  of  the  diagram  with  the  re-arranged 
districts  shows  that  the  second  epidemic  rise  affected  all  the  dis- 
tricts, and  that  the  acme  was  reached  in  1872  by  the  principal 
towns,  with  380  per  million  ;  in  1873  by  the  small  towns,  with  420 
per  million  ;  in  1874  by  the  large  towns,  with  470  per  million;  the 
acme  of  the  mainland-rural  being  the  same  as  that  of  the  eight  prin- 
cipal towns — viz.,  380  in  1874.  The  effect  of  removing  the  villages 
of  from  2,000  to  10,000  inhabitants  from  the  mainland-rural  districts 
is  nothing  like  so  marked  on  the  relative  position  of  that  group  as 
we  should  expect,  but  the  insular  group  is  decidedly  lowered  by  the 
exclusion  of  its  populous  places. 

You  will  observe  an  arrow-head  projecting  from  the  black 
columns.  This  marks  the  position  of  Glasgow  among  the  towns,  and 
consequently  has  very  special  interest  for  us.  The  epidemic  was 
longer  in  obtaining  a  hold  upon  Glasgow  than  upon  the  other  towns 

*  Annual  Report  for  1858,  p.  33. 

f  The  facte  for  1874  are  not  published,  but  have  been  kindly  furnished  in 
advance  by  the  Registrar-Ueneral. 


Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  15 

and  districts,  but  it  rapidly  rose  to  an  acme  above  the  average  of 
the  other  towns  in  1863,  when  the  death-rate  was  600  per  million, 
which  is  nearly  double  the  highest  figure  ever  attained  since.  In 
1864,  however,  we  see  that  even  the  rural  districts  reached  600,  and 
the  main!  and -rural  surpassed  it  with  720.  This,  I  need  not  say,  is 
a  most  remarkable  fact.  You  will  observe  that  in  the  most  recent 
years,  to  the  right  of  the  diagram,  the  arrow-head  which  marks  the 
position  of  our  city  is  always  considerably  below  the  horizontal  bar 
which  marks  the  mean  for  the  whole  of  Scotland. 

Turn  now  to  the  diagram  which  depicts  the  history  of  Enteric 
Fever  (Plate  II.)  It  is  very  unfortunate  that  this  history  only 
dates  from  1865,  because  enteric  fever  has  been  undoubtedly  en- 
demic in  this  country  without  interruption  for  generations.  It  is 
especially  vexatious  that  the  distinction  between  it  and  typhus  was 
not  adopted  in  the  national  registers  of  Scotland  sooner,  because  it 
was  first  recognised  and  recorded  by  Glasgow  physicians,  following 
the  physicians  of  the  Continent.  In  1836  Drs.  Percy  and  Stewart 
demonstrated  the  points  of  difference  in  the  wards  of  the  Royal 
Infirmary,  and  since  1847  the  two  fevers  have  been  entered  in  the 
books  of  that  institution  by  their  respective  names. 

The  relative  position  of  the  horizontal  bars  showing  the  annual 
mean  prevalence  is  typical  of  the  endemic  as  their  position  in  the 
diphtheria  chart  is  typical  of  the  epidemic  character.  There  are 
fluctuations,  but  they  are  trifling,  and  on  the  whole  there  is  a  slight 
aggregate  diminution  in  the  more  recent  years.  The  columns,  how- 
ever, show  distinct  epidemic  spurts  or  outbreaks,  and  that  in  the 
mainland-rural  districts,  and  in  the  small  towns.  The  actual  highest 
points  are  in  the  mainland-rural  and  small  town  columns,  580  and 
590  per  million  respectively,  the  highest  town  group  being  540. 
In  the  left  hand  series  of  years  the  mainland-rural  is  considerably 
above  the  towns  in  two  years,  and  in  the  remaining  four  there  is 
but  a  slight  difference  in  favour  of  the  former.  The  right  hand 
group,  however,  proves  that  the  headquarters  of  enteric  fever  are  in 
our  small  towns  and  villages,  which  tower  above  the  towns  in  each 
year.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  this  which  explains  the  high 
level  of  the  mainland-rural  districts  in  the  older  subdivisions  to 
the  left. 

The  position  of  the  arrow-head  shows  that  Glasgow  holds  a  high 
position  among  the  local  enteric  death-rates.  Still,  in  1866,  it  will 
be  noted  that  the  rate  was  only  470  per  million  against  the  main- 
land-rural 580.  The  highest  recorded  rate  in  Glasgow  up  to  last 
year  was  that  shown  in  IS 68 — viz.,  C10. 


16  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

I  shall  now  ask  you  to  turn  your  attention  to  another  diagram  of 
great  importance  and  interest  (Plato  III.)  It  refers  to  diphtheria 
during  the  ten  years  between  the  census  of  1861  and  that  of  1871, 
and  derives  a  special  value  from  three  circumstances  :  (1.)  That  the 
population  being  determined  from  two  points,  one  at  the  beginning, 
the  other  at  the  end  of  the  period,  it  is  strictly  accurate;  (2.)  that 
every  death-rate  represents  the  mean  of  ten  years;  and  (3.)  that  each 
county  in  Scotland  is  represented  apart,  with  its  own  rural  and  town 
districts  placed  side  by  side.  We  are  thus  able  to  say,  not  merely 
how  all  the  rural  and  all  the  town  districts  of  Scotland  taken  to- 
gether stand  to  each  other,  but  to  take  the  towns  of  every  county 
and  compare  them  with  their  surrounding  rural  districts,  in  re- 
spect of  the  fatality  of  diphtheria,  and  so  at  once  eliminate  all 
such  causes  as  difference  of  soil,  climate,  <fcc.  As  in  the  other 
diagrams,  the  black  represents  the  town  districts.  The  counties 
which  had  no  towns  above  10,000  inhabitants  in  18G1  are  massed 
to  the  right.  The  black  horizontal  band  marks  the  mean  of  all 
the  towns,  which  was  254  per  million,  the  mainland-rural  being 
355,  and  the  insular-rural  217.  The  columns  representing  tho 
eight  principal  towns  are  indicated  by  the  letters  P.T. 

With  these  explanations  I  might  almost  leave  the  diagram  to  tell 
its  own  remarkable  story.  There  are  eleven  counties  containing 
towns  which  are  singled  out  from  their  surrounding  country,  and 
in  only  three  is  it  not  the  case  that  these  towns  are  freer  from 
diphtheria  than  tho  country  round  about  them.  These  three  are 
Ayr,  Lanark,  and  Edinburgh ;  but  while  the  town  of  Ayr  was 
slightly  worse  than  tho  county,  that  of  Kilmarnock  was  con- 
siderably better;  while  Coatbridge  and  tho  suburbs  of  Glasgow 
were  worse  than  the  county  of  Lanark,  Glasgow  proper,  and  the 
towns  of  Hamilton  and  Airdrie,  were  decidedly  better;  and  although 
Edinburgh  town  is  higher  than  Edinburgh  county,  Leith  is  a  very 
little  lower.  Look,  on  the  other  hand,  to  tho  county  of  Aberdeen, 
where  the  town  is  304,  and  the  country  693  per  million;  the  county 
of  Forfar,  with  the  town  of  Montrose  at  143,  and  Dundee  at  237, 
while  the  country  is  496  ;  the  county  of  Perth,  with  tho  town  at 
182,  and  the  country  at  420 ;  the  town  of  Dumfries  at  116,  with  its 
county  at  253,  and  the  suburb  of  Dumfries,  Maxwelltown,  at  41, 
lower  than  insular  Orkney  and  Shetland,  in  fact,  the  lowest  in 
Scotland,  and  yet  tho  county  in  which  it  stands  had  a  dcath-rato 
from  diphtheria  of  319,  or  nearly  eight  times  as  high.  Turn  now  to 
the  21  rural  counties  to  the  right,  and  you  will  observe  that  13  of  them 
rise  above  the  mean  line  of  the  town  districts ;  and  we  have  the 


Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  17 

sparsely  populated  and  distant  Caithness  towering  above  all  wit  li 
591,  not,  however  without  a  rival,  which  it  finds,  not  in  Glasgow, 
or  Edinburgh,  or  any  other  town,  but  in  the  rural  portion  of  Aber- 
deenshire, which  you  see  rises  like  an  Alp  on  the  extreme  left  of 
the  diagram.  In  the  county  of  Caithness  there  are  56  persons  to 
the  square  mile ;  in  the  county  of  Aberdeen  (including  its  towns) 
there  are  124 ;  in  the  county  of  Lanark  (including  its  towns)  there 
are  over  900 ;  and  in  Glasgow  we  have  to  endeavour  to  live  with 
64,000  per  mile,  and  yet  the  people  poison  each  other  with  their 
infected  excreta  at  more  than  twice  the  rate  in  Caithness,  and  more 
than  2J  times  the  rate  in  the  country  districts  of  Aberdeenshire  that 
they  do  in  Glasgow,  and  that  not  for  one  phenomenal  year,  but  on 
the  average  of  ten  successive  years. 

I  wish  it  had  been  possible  for  me  to  present  to  you  a  similar 
chart  of  the  comparative  fatality  of  enteric  fever,  but  we  must  wait 
for  the  census  of  1881  before  the  materials  will  be  provided.  Such 
data  as  exist  are  exhibited  in  these  diagrams.  They  show  that  on 
a  six  years'  average  of  the  triple  subdivision  of  Scotland  the  death- 
rates  per  million  from  enteric  fever  were — insular-rural  140,  towns 
480,  and  mainland-rural  485.  On  a  four  years'  average  of  the  more 
recent  five  subdivisions,  the  order  is — insular-rural  200,  mainland- 
rural  370,  principal  towns  430,  large  towns  460,  small  towns  550. 
These  facts,  as  well  as  a  considerable  acquaintance  with  the  current 
history  of  enteric  fever,  its  degrees  of  endemic  prevalence,  and  the 
distribution  of  its  annual  epidemic  outbursts,  lead  me  to  anticipate 
that  when  the  next  census  has  been  taken,  and  a  ten  years'  chart 
can  be  formed,  it  will  not  be  very  different  in  its  graphic  representa- 
tion of  the  neglected  nastiness  of  our  villages  and  country  districts, 
and  the  comparatively  favourable  position  of  our  cities,  even  under 
the  fearful  odds  imposed  by  their  size,  their  density,  and  the  char- 
acter of  a  large  proportion  of  their  population. 

Here  I  may  with  advantage,  in  a  few  words,  bring  into  promi- 
nence some  of  the  chief  circumstances  which  compose  the  odds  to 
which  allusion  has  just  been  made,  as  being  against  our  cities  in 
such  a  comparison  with  the  country  and  villages.  They  merely 
require  to  be  mentioned.  There  is  first,  and  chiefly,  the  element  of 
density  or  aggregation  of  human  beings  on  a  confined  area,  the 
presence  of  which  constitutes  the  town,  and  the  absence  of  which, 
or  the  opposite  of  which,  constitutes  the  country.  The  diseases 
whose  comparative  prevalence  we  have  been  investigating  survive 
the  completion  of  their  career  in  one  individual  by  passing  to 
another.      If  a  thistle  be  surrounded  by  miles  of  dry  bare  rock 

Vol.  XI. -No.  1.  c 


18  '  Philosophical  Society  of  Gkwjoie. 

which  it  is  impossible  to  fertilise,  it  may  float  off  its  seed  for  years, 
and  yet  at  the  end  of  its  own  life  the  thistle  will  bo  extinct  in  that 
region.     But  if  you  lay  off  ten  square  miles  round  this  thistle,  and 
at  regular  intervals  form  little  patches  of  earth  at  the  rate  of  5G  per 
square  mile,  the  floating  seeds  will  discover  those  patches  of  earth, 
and  germinate  and  fructify ;  and  if  you  lay  off  another  area  of  tea 
miles  round  another  thistle,  and  make  64,000  such  patches  per  mile, 
the  process  of  dissemination  will  progress  cateris  paribus  a  thousand 
times  moro  rapidly,  and  the  chances  of  the  spread  of  the  thistle 
infection  are  more  than   proportionately  improved.     If  we   found 
that,   notwithstanding  the  increased  chance,  this  thistle  did  not 
spread  more  rapidly,  nay,  did  not  even  spread  witli  half  the  rapidity 
of  the  thistle  whose  chances  were  so  much  less,  then  we  might  make* 
sure  that  the  channels  of  conveyance  of  the  seed  to  the  soil,  the 
atmospheric  currents,  or  accidental  transport  by  water,  by  birds, 
&c.,  were  immensely  less  numerous  and  active.*     Now,  for  thistle 
say  diphtheria,  and  for  the  two  areas  say  the  county  of  Caithness 
and  the  city  of  Glasgow,  and  you  have  a  perfect  representation  of 
the  comparative  facilities  afforded  for  the  propagation,  not  only  of 
this,  but  of  every  other  zymotic  disease  after  its  kind  and  accord- 
ing to  its  special  habits  of  development  in  rural  districts  and  in 
towns.     Everything  is  left  to  chance  in  tho  country.     The  bounty 
of  nature  there  is  such  that  no  improvidence  can  entirely  squander 
it,  as  the  comparative  freedom  of  the  country  from  acute  pulmonary 
diseases  shows ;  but  in  towns  it  is  not  so.     There  life  would  be  im- 
possible on  such  terms  ;  and,  as  it  were  under  a  penalty  of  death, 
the  towns  have  by  permanent  expenditure  on  sanitary  works,  by 
current  expenditure  on  general  supervision  and  tho  prevention  of 
infectious  disease,  so  controlled  the  channels  of  conveyance  of  tho 
seed  to  the  soil,  that  in  regard  to  diphtheria,  enteric  fever,  and 
cholera,  a  citizen  of  Glasgow  runs  much  less  risk  of  dying  of  theso 
diseases   than    an  inhabitant  of   Caithness  or  Aberdeenshire,  or 
almost  any  other  rural  district  in  Scotland  you  choose  to  name  ! 

Nor  are  the  infectious  diseases  of  tho  country,  in  their  unchecked 
luxuriance,  a  matter  of  indifference  to  towns.  Tho  daily  supply 
oven  of  one  essential  of  our  food  —  viz.,  milk,  brings  such  a  city  as 
Glasgow  into  what,  in  the  strictest  etymological  sense,  is  familiar 
intercourse  with  all  the  pastoral  country  in  the  south  of  Scotland. 
I  can  say  of  my  own  knowledge,  from  investigations  into  the  enteric 
fever  of  the  last  four  years  in  Glasgow,  that  when  it  has  become 
locally  epidemic  in  certain  parts  of  the  town,  it  has  been  derived 
from  excremental  pollution  miles  off,  either  demonstrably  or  with 


Dr.  J.  B.  Kussell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  19 

strong  probability.  So  it  has  been  in  Greenock,  in  Edinburgh,  in 
Leeds,  London,  and  many  other  towns.  In  other  minor  ways  the 
country  contributes  such  diseases  to  the  town ;  but  enough  has  been 
said  to  show  that  the  town  and  its  arrangements  are  credited  or  dis- 
credited with  much  enteric  fever  at  any  rate,  with  the  genesis  of 
which  they  have  nothing  more  to  do  than  with  the  thistle-down 
which  is  borne  into  its  streets  from  the  country  meadows. 

Last  of  all  the  odds  against  the  town  which  I  shall  notice  is  this 
— that  both  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever  affect  youth,  and  the  town 
population  is  much  richer  in  this  element  than  that  of  the  country* 
About  90  per  cent,  of  those  who  suffer  from  enteric  fever  are  under 
thirty  years  of  age,  while  more  than  half  of  those  who  have  diph- 
theria are  under  five  years  of  age.    I  shall  not  trouble  you  with  the 
figures,  but  it  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  a  constant  tide  of  persons,  aged 
between  fifteen  and  thirty,  flows  from  the  rural  districts  and  villages 
into  the  towns.     This  in  turn  maintains  a  high  relative  birth-rate 
in  towns,  so  that  you  see  the  ultimate  result  is  to  expose  a  larger 
proportion  of  persons,  specially  susceptible  of  infection,  out   of  a 
population  which  is  itself  larger  in  relation  to  the  area  upon  which 
it  lives,  to  those  diseases  in  the  town  than  in  the  country. 
*    Notwithstanding  all  those  disadvantages,  I  have  tested  the  urban 
populations  by  the  most  severe  test — viz.,  the  death-rate  per  head 
of  population,  which  makes  no  allowance  for  the  very  different 
general  death-rate  as  compared  with  the  country.     If  we  could  con- 
trast the  number  of  cases  of  actual  disease  in  town  and  country,  the 
comparison  would  be  correct  as  a  basis  for  the  estimation  of  the 
relative  activity  of  the  causes  of  the  disease.     But  we  can  deal  only 
with  deaths,  and  a  case  of  disease  is  passed  on  into  the  category  of 
death,  not  merely  by  phenomena  essential  to  the  disease,  but  by 
agents  external  to  it,  and  acting  upon  all  persons  suffering  from 
whatever  disease,  and,  indeed,  whether  diseased  or  healthy,  who  live 
in  the  locality  where  the  disease  prevails.     Now,  the  proclivity  to 
death  is,  on  the  whole,  much  greater  in  the  town  than  in   the 
country,  from  the  existence  of  causes  which  affect  the  population  in 
the  aggregate ;  so  that  100  persons  suffering  from  enteric  fever  may 
yield  twelve  to  fifteen  deaths  in  the  town  against  eight  to  ten 
in  the  country;  and  we  should  wrongly   estimate   the  relative 
activity  of  the  causes  of  enteric  fever,  if  we  took  it  to  be  in 
the  ratio   of  eight  or  ten  to  twelve   or  fifteen,   the  fact  being 
that  they  were  probably  equally  active  in  the  two  places.     The 
easiest  way  to  give  some  general  expression  to  those  local  differ- 
ences of  general  mortality  is  to  give  the  proportion  of  the  deaths 


20 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


from  the  individual  disease  to  the  total  deaths.  In  the  ten 
years  18G1-70,  of  the  total  deaths  in  the  towns,  9G  per  10,000 
were  caused  by  diphtheria,  in  the  insular-rural  132,  and  in  the 
mainland-rural  189.  Then,  as  to  enteric  fever,  on  a  six  years1 
average  of  the  three  groups,  it  contributed  86  per  10,000  of  the 
total  deaths  in  the  insular-rural,  170  in  the  towns,  and  259  in  the 
mainland-rural.  On  a  three  years'  average  of  the  five  groups,  the 
proportions  were  121  per  10,000  in  the  insular- rural,  160  in  the 
eight  principal  towns,  181  in  the  large  towns,  213  in  the  mainland- 
rural,  and  250  in  the  small  towns. 

Although  the  eight  principal  towns  of  Scotland — viz.,  Glasgow, 
Edinburgh,  Dundee,  Aberdeen,  Greenock,  Paisley,  Leith,  and  Perth, 
as  a  whole,  stand  so  favourably  as  regards  those  tilth  diseases,  they 
present  notable  and  marked  differences  one  from  another.  I  have 
made  use  of  all  available  sources  of  information  as  to  their 
individual  internal  condition,  but  a  great  deal  of  detail  as  to  local 
circumstances,  which  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  obtain  or  to 
estimate  correctly  without  local  inspection  and  personal  obser- 
vation, is  evidently  requisite  to  warrant  trustworthy  inferences. 
As  I  am  anxious  to  follow  up  those  diseases  into  their  very  habitats 
in  Glasgow,  the  city  with  which  we  are  all  most  minutely  familiar, 
I  shall  merely  run  rapidly  over  the  other  towns,  giving  a  few  facts. 
The  source  of  my  information  as  to  water-closets  and  water  supply 
is  the  Rivers  Pollution  Commission's  laborious  Report  on  the 
Domestic  Water-supply  of  Great  Britain,  where  all  the  chief  towns 
of  the  country  may  be  referred  to  as  in  a  dictionary,  their  names 
being  arranged  alphabetically.  The  facts  in  that  report  represent 
the  state  of  matters  in  1871.  Their  relative  position  as  to  death- 
rate  from  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever  is  shown  in  another  chart, 
and  is  determined  from  an  average  of  the  last  eleven  years.  The 
following  is  the  table  on  which  the  chart  is  founded : — 

o 


Death-rates  feh  Million  in  Eight  Large  Towns,  average 

of  Eleven  Years,  18C6-76. 


Diphtheria. 

Enteric  Fover. 

Perth, 

•                • 

180 

Perth, 

230 

Paisley, 

*                • 

180 

Leith, 

350 

Leith, 

*    • 

190 

Dundee, 

380 

Aberdeen,  . 

•                • 

220 

Edinburgh, 

380 

Glasgow,    . 

•                • 

230 

Aberdeen,  . 

450 

Dundee, 

•                • 

290 

Greenock,  . 

470 

Greenock,  . 

•                • 

310 

Glasgow,     . 

490 

Edinburgh, 

•                • 

320 

Paisley, 

530 

Dr.  J.  B.  Eussell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  ami  Country.  21 

Perth  stands  lowest  both  in  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever,  with 
death-rates  of  180  and  230  per  million.  There  was  one  water- 
closet  to  each  33  inhabitants  in  1871,  on  which  year  I  shall 
throughout  base  those  ratios  as  the  only  available  way  of  indicating 
a  proportion  by  which  the  towns  can  be  compared  in  this  respect. 
The  water  supply  is  partly  from  the  river,  which  is  said  to  be 
pure,  partly  from  another  source,  said  to  be  impure,  and  in  both 
cases  is  said  to  be  defective  in  quantity. 

Paisley  has  the  same  death-rate  from  diphtheria  as  Perth,  but 
enteric  fever  is  more  fatal  there  than  in  any  of  the  other  towns,  the 
rate  bf|pg  53Q  per  million.  There  was  one  water-closet  to  96 
inhabitants,  and  the  water  supply  is  good  and  abundant.  Paisley 
is  essentially  a  midden  town.  It  has  had  good  water  since  1835, 
it  is  comparatively  free  of  diphtheria,  yet  enteric  fever  is  very 
prevalent. 

Leith  shares  the  Edinburgh  water  supply,  which  is  intermittent 
and  totally  inadequate,  and  also  in  part  impure.  We  have  no 
information  as  to  the  number  of  water-closets,  but  Edinburgh  had 
one  to  six  of  its  population  in  1871;  and  as  part  of  the  town  is 
almost  entirely  without  water-closets,  and  there  are  no  middens, 
this  high  proportion  arises  from  the  number  of  large  houses  con- 
taining several  such  conveniences.  Yet  Leith  has  a  diphtheria 
death-rate  of  only  190,  while  Edinburgh  has  the  highest  of  all  the 
towns,  viz.,  320;  and  Leith  stands  second  lowest  in  enteric  fever 
with  350,  while  Edinburgh  follows  with  380. 

Aberdeen  has  a  death-rate  of  220  from  diphtheria  and  450  from 
enteric  fever,  the  fourth  and  fifth  lowest  positions  respectively.  It 
had  one  water-closet  to  44  inhabitants.  The  water  supply  is  from 
the  Dee,  and  is  said  to  be  pure  and  adequate ;  but  in  1866  the  point 
of  intake  from  the  Dee  had  been  shifted  higher  up,  so  as  to  avoid 
certain  sources  of  sewage  contamination. 

Glasgow  stands  fifth  lowest  in  diphtheria,  230,  and  is  second  from 
the  highest,  i.  e.,  next  to  Paisley,  in  enteric  fever — 490. 

Dundee  follows  as  to  diphtheria,  290,  and  is  third  lowest  in 
enteric  fever,  380,  the  same  as  Edinburgh.  Yet  the  water  supply 
is  said  to  have  been  "  far  from  good  "  and  "  quite  inadequate,"  and 
it  is  called  a  water-closet  town.  I  learn  that  since  1875  the  water 
supply  has  been  made  copious  and  good. 

Greenock  is  all  but  as  bad  as  Edinburgh  as  to  diphtheria,  310  per 
million,  and  comes  just  below  Glasgow  in  enteric  fever  with  470. 
It  was  said  to  have  one  water-closet  to  17  of  its  population,  and  the 
water  supply  has  been  good  and  abundant  since  so  far  back  as  1773. 


22  Philotofkical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Them*  average  death-rates  do  not  show  the  highest  or  epidemic 
points,  and  in  this  respect  Glasgow  stands  most  favourably,  there 
being  only  one  town  which  shows  a  lower  acme  in  diphtheria  and 
one  in  enteric  fever.  Paisley  seems  to  have  bnt  trifling  epidemic 
exacerbations  of  diphtheria,  while  enteric  fever  is  a  constant  scourge; 
and  Perth  suffers  much  and  increasingly  from  diphtheria,  while 
enteric  fever  at  its  worst  does  not  touch  the  Glasgow  rate.  There 
has  been  a  decidedly  decreased  mortality  from  these  diseases  within 
the  laat  few  years  in  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  Dundee,  and  Aberdeen. 

It  must  be  apparent  from  this  rapid  survey  of  our  towns  that 
more  intimate  knowledge  is  wanted  of  their  inner  condition  to 
enable  us  to  draw  correct  conclusions  from  such  widely  divergent 
mortalities.  We  shall  now  turn  to  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  and 
endeavour  to  get  a  little  nearer  the  heart  of  this  sewage  question, 
as  it  presents  itself  to  us  in  towns  regarding  which  we  have  more 
intimate  knowledge,  in  relation  to  health. 

While  it  may  be  correct,  speaking  generally,  to  call  one  town  a 
privy  town  or  a  midden  town,  and  another  a  water-closet  town,  we 
require  more  precision.  We  wish  some  information  as  to  the  privy 
or  midden  and  water-closet  districts  of  the  town,  which,  being  in 
one  area,  are  supplied  with  the  same  water,  subject  to  the  same 
climate,  and  stand  on  the  same  soil ;  so  that  we  shall  have  less 
difficulty  in  distinguishing  any  influence  which  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  differ  may  exercise.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  how 
little  precise  information  as  to  the  statistical  facts  worth  knowing 
we  can  obtain.  In  Manchester,  for  example,  we  find  arguments  in 
favour  of  their  midden  system,  based  upon  statistics  of  the  diminu- 
tion of  "fever"  of  late  years.  Yet  the  only  "fever"  which  is 
directly  related  to  questions  of  filth  removal — viz.,  enteric,  is  thrown 
into  one  indiscriminate  class,  and  diphtheria  is  not  referred  to  at  all. 
So  it  is  in  Liverpool,  and  indeed  the  national  statistics  of  the 
English  Registrar-General  are  also  defective. 

In  1874,  the  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh  issued  a  return,  the 
value  as  well  as  the  precise  contents  of  which  will  best  be  shown  by 
quoting  its  title,  which  is — "  Return  by  the  Burgh  Engineer  of  the 
number  of  dwelling-houses,  within  each  of  the  nineteen  sanitary 
districts  into  which  the  city  is  divided,  provided  with  water-closet 
accommodation,  the  means  adopted  for  ventilating  the  same,  and 
water  supply,  &c,  with  supplementary  return  by  the  Medical  Officer 
of  Health  of  the  rate  and  amount  of  mortality  and  causes  of  death 
in  each  district."  The  facts  as  to  mortality  only  extend  to  one 
year,  1871,  and  unfortunately  the  deaths  from  enteric  fever  are  not 


Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  23 

isolated  from  the  general  mass  of  "  fever."  I  can  therefore  use  only 
one  test  disease — viz.,  diphtheria,  which  it  so  happens  was  more 
prevalent  in  1871  than  it  had  ever  been  before  or  has  ever  been 
since  in  Edinburgh.  By  throwing  the  nineteen  districts  into 
four  groups,  I  obtain  the  following  comparison  of  the  fatality  of 
diphtheria,  relative  to  tk»  proportion  of  houses  having  water- 
closets  inside  their  walls,  awl  having  no  water-closet  either  inside 
or  outside. 

In  Group  I.,  70J  per  cent,  of  the  houses  had  no  water-closet 
accommodation  whatever,  and  9J  per  cent  had  inside  water-closets. 
The  general  death-rate  was  32  per  1,000,  the  death-rate  from 
diphtheria  was  67  per  100,000,  and  the  proportion  to  10,000  deaths 
from  all  causes  was  21. 

In  Group  II.,  36£  per  cent,  of  the  houses  had  no  water-closet 
accommodation  whatever,  and  37  per  cent,  had  inside  water-closets. 
The  general  death-rate  was  27  per  1,000,  the  death-rate  from  diph- 
theria was  62  per  100,000,  and  the  proportion  to  10,000  deaths  from 
all  causes  was  23. 

In  Group  III.,  17  per  cent,  of  the  houses  had  no  water-closet 
accommodation  whatever,  and  73  per  cent,  had  inside  water-closets. 
The  general  death-rate  was  21  per  1,000,  the  death-rate  from  diph- 
theria was  79  per  100,000,  and  the  proportion  to  10,000  deaths  from 
all  causes  was  38. 

In  Group  IV.,  only  7  J  per  cent,  of  the  houses  were  entirely  with- 
out water-closet  accommodation,  while  88  per  cent,  had  inside  water- 
closets.  The  general  death-rate  was  20  per  1,000,  the  death-rate 
from  diphtheria  was  77  per  100,000,  and  the  proportion  to  10,000 
deaths  from  all  causes  was  39. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  for  you  to  gather  the  precise  meaning  of 
those  figures  from  simply  hearing  them  read,  but  this  is  of  less  im- 
portance, as  they  serve  rather  to  give  a  clue  to  the  correct  line  of 
inquiry  than  fully  to  answer  it ;  and  I  shall  immediately  proceed  to 
lay  before  you,  by  the  aid  of  diagrams,  the  result  of  a  more  perfect 
examination  of  further  and  more  satisfactory  statistics  derived  from 
our  own  city.  The  fact  which  I  wish  you  to  remember,  and  which 
those  figures  prove,  is  that  a  relation  exists  between  the  proportion 
of  houses  having  inside  water  closets,  and  consequently  a  connection 
between  the  sewers  and  their  internal  atmosphere,  and  the  death- 
rate  from  diphtheria.  It  is  10  per  100,000  higher  where  88  per 
cent,  of  the  houses  stand  in  this  relation  to  the  sewers  than  where 
only  9  J  per  cent,  are  so  related  ;  and  the  proportion  of  deaths  from 
diphtheria  is  18  per  10,000  higher.     Still,  there  is  an  enormous 


24  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

difference  between  the  ratio  of  increase  of  inside  water-closets  and 
of  the  mortality  from  diphtheria.  Although  the  maximum  of 
internal  water-closet  accommodation  is  ten  times  the  minimum,  the 
increase  of  diphtheria  death-rate  is  only  a  sixth,  and  we  find  the 
maximum  death-rate  of  the  four  groups  where  the  increase  of  internal 
water-closets  is  only  about  eight  time*  the  minimum  proportion. 
But  measuring  the  increase  of  diphtheiofll  as  a  proportion  of  the  total 
deaths,  it  rises  with  the  proportion  of  internal  water-closets,  though 
still  not  at  all  in  the  same  ratio. 

Let  us  now  endeavour,  from  the  data  supplied  by  our  Glasgow 
experience,  to  push  home  this  inquiry  into  the  relation  between 
internal  communication  between  the  atmosphere  of  our  houses  and 
the  sewers,  and  those  two  diseases.  In  1872,  with  that  instinct  for 
the  vital  points  of  contact  between  the  sewage  question  and  our 
health  which  has  made  your  President  remarkable  among  practical 
sanitarians,  Dr.  Fergus  moved  for  and  obtained  a  return  from  the 
Board  of  Police  of  "  the  number  of  houses,  manufactories,  and  work- 
shops in  each  street,  and  the  drains,  water-closets,  <tc,  in  communi- 
cation with  main  sewers,"  with  sundry  details  as  to  the  condition  of 
the  sewer  connections  as  to  ventilation,  relation  to  cisterns  for 
domestic  water  supply,  <fcc.  Unfortunately  this  return  was  not,  as 
in  the  case  of  Edinburgh,  drawn  up  in  relation  to  our  sanitary  sub- 
divisions of  the  city,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  apply  the  valuable 
local  information  which  it  contains  to  those  subdivisions. 

Many  of  you  must  be  familiar  with  the  four  groups  of  the  sanitary 
subdivisions  of  Glasgow  from  the  description  which  accompanies 
each  quarterly  issue  of  the  Mortality  Tables.  The  first  may  be 
called  the  water-closet  group,  only  11  per  cent,  of  the  houses  being 
one  apartment,  and  the  density  70  per  acre;  while  the  fourth  may 
be  called  the  midden  group,  44  per  cent,  of  the  houses  being  one 
apartment,  and  the  density  320  per  acre.  In  the  former  the  death 
rate  per  100,000  from  diphtheria,  on  the  average  of  three  years 
(1873-5),  was  25,  and  from  enteric  fever  34 ;  while  in  the  latter  tho 
death-rates  were  18  and  41.  But  the  maximum  death-rate  from 
enteric  fever  was  in  Group  II.,  where  it  was  50  per  100,000,  that 
being  the  region  of  newly-built  houses  of  small  size,  largely 
provided  with  modern  conveniences.  Although  the  absolute  death- 
rate  from  enteric  fever  was  higher  in  the  so-called  midden  dis- 
trict than  in  the  typical  water-closet  district,  the  proportion  to  the 
total  number  of  deaths  from  this  disease  was  decidedly  the  lowest. 
As  we  saw  in  the  case  of  Edinburgh,  measured  in  this  way,  the 
gradation  was  steadily  downward  in  the  proportion  of  deaths  from 


Dr.  J.  B.  Eussell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  25 

diphtheria  as  the  presumable  proportion  of  water-closets  diminished, 
though  not  in  the  same  ratio ;  but  even  in  this  aspect,  Group  II.  had 
a  pre-eminence  over  the  water-closet  district,  in  which  the  houses 
are  of  larger  size.  There  is  found  both  the  highest  enteric  death- 
rate  and  the  largest  proportion  to  the  total  deaths.  We  have  thus 
in  both  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  had  our  attention  directed  to  an 
apparent  relation  between  the  death-rate  from  specific  filth-diseases 
and  the  proportion  of  inhabited  houses  which  are  connected  with 
the  sewers.  Let  us  now  endeavour  to  work  out  this  relation  to  a 
somewhat  more  precise  issue. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  expressing  the  problem  in  exact  terms. 
The  difficulty  is  to  obtain  the  requisite  data  wherewith  to  solve  it. 
Hitherto  we  have  been  dealing  with  averages  and  proportions,  and 
otherwise,  as  it  were,  endeavouring  indirectly  to  work  round  the 
question,  and  consequently  the  answer  we  have  obtained  has  been 
more  a  hint  or  suggestion  than  an  answer.  It  is  evidently  not 
enough  to  know  only  that  a  certain  percentage  of  the  total  houses 
in  a  district  have  water-closets  inside  their  walls,  and  that  a  certain 
death-rate  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  these  houses  was  ascertained  to 
have  been  caused  by  a  certain  disease.  We  wish  to  know  also 
whether  those  persons  died  in  these  houses,  and  if  not  all,  what 
comparative  proportion  died  in  these  houses,  and  in  others  in  the 
district  not  provided  with  water-closets,  per  head  of  their  respective 
populations. 

It  is  evident  that  this  detailed  information  is  to  be  obtained  in  two 
directions — (1.)  from  inquiries  made  as  to  the  surrounding  circum- 
stances of  those  who  die ;  (2.)  from  a  minute  census  of  the  circum- 
stances of  those  who  are  alive,  i.e.,  of  the  general  population.  As 
the  whole  fabric  of  our  conclusions  rests  upon  the  correctness  with 
which  these  facts  have  been  collected,  it  becomes  necessary  not  only 
to  give  you  the  facts,  but  to  indicate  the  precautions  adopted  to 
ensure  their  completeness. 

First,  then,  as  to  the  deaths.  Since  the  middle  of  1873,  every 
death  occurring  in  the  city  from  any  zymotic  disease,  or  from 
diseases  of  the  lungs,  has  been  written  upon  a  card,  on  which  is 
printed  a  blank  form,  which  is  filled  up  with  the  required  par- 
ticulars from  information  obtained  in  the  house  where  the  death 
occurred.  In  this  way  a  mass  of  important  information  is  collected, 
a  small  portion  of  which  I  intend  now  to  make  use  of.  It  includes 
minute  details  about  the  size  of  the  house,  the  position  of  the  water- 
closet,  if  there  be  one,  and  also  of  the  jawbox  or  sink.  The  diseases 
which  I  have  investigated  in  connection  with  the  present  inquiry 


Philosophical  Society  of  GlasgoK* 


26 

include,  of  course,  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever,  but  in  addition 
croup,  in  order  to  show  how  it  differs  from  diphtheria  and  diarrhceal 
deaths,  because  of  their  frequent  association  with  the  specific  filth 
diseases  in  a  common  origin.  The  number  of  deaths  from  diphtheria 
-dealt  with  in  the  following  statements  is  420,  from  enteric  fever  833, 
and  from  croup  556,  being  all  that  occurred  iu  Glasgow  from  1st 
July,  1873,  to  31st  December,  1876,  or  three  and  a  half  years.  The 
number  of  deaths  from  diarrhoea  is  9G5,  being  all  that  occurred  in 
the  years  1870  and  187G. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  choose  a  basis  of  classification. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  whatever  influence  our  sowers  have  in  convey- 
ing impurities  to  our  bodies  must  be  exercised  mainly,  if  not  solely  i 
through  the  communications  which  enter  within,  the  houses  which 
wc  inhabit  These  must,  at  all  events,  afford  such  a  facility,  for  the 
process  of  fertilising  us  with  the  germs  of  the  specific  diseases,  which 
are  supposed  to  emerge  from  the  sewers,  that  if  there  be  such  a  pro- 
cess, then  there  ought  to  be  a  distinct  relation  between  the  propor- 
tion of  persons  fertilised,  out  of  the  total  nuoiber  exposed,  and  the 
number  of  those  possible  channels  of  infection  within  the  houses 
which  these  porsons  inhabit.  It  was  necessary  to  take  account,  not 
■only  of  water-closets,  but  of  sinks,  when  situated  within  the  house, 
both  becauso  these  may  bring  in  ftecal  emanations,  and  because 
I  believe  that,  in  the  smaller  houses,  where  there  are  no  water- 
closets,  they  also  convey  out  matters  which  usually  find  on  exit 
through  a  water-closet 

This  being  the  basis,  the  following  is  the  classification  adopted. 
It  is  fourfold; — (1.)  The  deaths  which  occurred  in  houses  having  a 
water-closet  intide,  with  or  without  a  sink.  (2.)  Those  which 
■occurred  in  houses  having  a  sink  inside,  but  no  water-closet  (3.) 
Those  which  occurred  in  houses  having  no  connection  whatever 
between  their  internal   atmosphere   and   the   sewers — i.e.,  having 


__ 

Mpn- 
UierU. 

Enwric 

Croup. 

— 

Funmcu. 

Dlph 

tot 

Dr>|  DUr. 

Water-closet,    .     . 

Kink  only,    .    .     . 

Unknown,    .     .     . 

ICO 
181 
fiS 

10 

235 
373 

17a 

52 

64 
270 
187 

15 

152 
4C0 

3lH 
49 

as 

43 
17 

62 

28 

43 

■2\ 

15 
48 
34 
3 

1G 

18 

31 

r. 

Total 

420 

S33 

550 

965 

Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  27 

neither  water-closet  nor  sink.  (4.)  Those  deaths  concerning  which, 
from  the  addresses  not  being  found,  or  other  causes,  the  information 
was  not  obtained.   • 

Having  got  the  deaths  so  classified,  the  result  is  found  to  be  that 
38  and  28  per  cent,  of  the  deaths  from  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever 
occurred  in  houses  in  which  there  were  water-closets,  and  15  and  16 
per  cent,  of  these  from  croup  and  diarrhoea. 

That  43  and  45  per  cent,  of  the  deaths  from  diphtheria  and  enteric 
fever  occurred  in  houses  having  a  sink  but  no  water-closet,  and  48 
per  cent,  in  each  case  of  these  from  croup  and  diarrhoea. 

That  17  and  21  per  cent,  of  the  deaths  from  diphtheria  and  enteric 
fever  occurred  in  houses  having  no  internal  connection  with  the 
sewers  whatever,  and  34  and  31  per  cent,  of  these  from  croup  and 
diarrhoea. 

So  far  so  good,  but  it  is  evident  that  an  important  element  in 
determining  the  influence  upon  health  of  an  inside  sewer  connection 
is  the  size  of  the  house — important  in  three  ways — (1.)  by  relation 
to  the  degree  of  dilution  of  the  fertilising  emanations;  (2.)  by  so  far 
determining  the  number  of  persons  exposed  to  these  fertilising  ema- 
nations ;  and  (3.)  by  some  degree  of  connection  with  the  social  posi- 
tion and  habits  of  those  persons.  Therefore,  the  next  step  in  the 
analysis  was  to  subdivide  each  class  in  each  disease,  according  as  the 
deaths  took  place  in  houses  of  one,  two,  three,  four,  five,  or  more 
apartments. 

I  shall  not  trouble  you  with  the  actual  figures  obtained  by  this 
subdivision,  but  asking  you  to  take  for  granted  that  it  was  carefully 
and  correctly  made,  shall  proceed  shortly  to  state  the  information 
required  to  give  precision  to  the  interpretation  of  these  figures,  by 
enabling  us  to  estimate  the  total  number  living  under  the  varied 
circumstances  in  which  the  already  ascertained  number  died.  This 
information  included  three  distinct  facts — viz.,  (1.)  the  total  number 
of  inhabited  houses  of  each  size;  (2.)  the  total  number  of  the  inha- 
bited houses  of  each  size  which  have  water-closets  inside,  which  have 
sinks  only,  and  which  have  neither;  (3.)  the  total  number  of  persons 
inhabiting  houses  of  each  size  and  having  such  important  differences 
in  their  internal  relation  to  the  sewers.  This  is  the  most  essential 
item  of  information,  because  without  it  we  should  fall  into  an 
obvious  fallacy  in  comparing  houses  as  to  the  prevalence  of  disease 
in  their  inhabitants.  A  house  and  its  arrangements  express  their 
influence  upon  health  through  the  inmates,  and  a  house  of  many 
apartments,  containing  many  people,  has  a  proportionately  greater 
chance  or  possibility  of  showing  its  insalubrity  than  a  house  of  few 


28  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

apartments  containing  few  people.  It  is  so  necessary  that  you 
should  be  convinced  of  the  correctness  of  these  facts,  that  I  shall 
trouble  you  with  a  short  explanation  of  the  method  by  which  they 
have  been  ascertained. 

1.  The*  total  number  of  inhabited  houses  of  each  size  is  readily  and 
v  correctly  obtained  from  the  City  Assessor's  annual  assessment  roll ; 

a  statement  compiled  from  which  is  furnished  each  year  to  the 
Sanitary  department,  for  the  purpose  of  calculating  therefrom  tho 
population  of  the  city. 

2.  The  total  number  of  inhabited  houses  of  each  size  which  have 
water-closets  or  sinks  inside  can  be  determined  only  for  houses  of 
one  and  two  apartments,  for  this  reason,  that  in  Dr.  Fergus's  return, 
already  referred  to,  we  find  the  number  given,  as  in  1872,  for  those 
sizes  of  houses  alone.  All  above  that  size  are  combined,  and  obviously 
no  information  can  be  got  as  to  the  proportion  of  houses  having  such 
arrangements,  where  the  houses  are  of  such  a  size  as  possibly,  and 
indeed,  in  many  cases  certainly,  to  have  several  water-closets  or 
sinks  in  each.  But  applying  the  percentage  of  houses  of  one  and 
two  apartments  having,  or  not  having,  those  conveniences  in  1872 
to  the  average  of  those  inhabited  in  1873-4-5  and  6,  we  get  results 
applicable  to  the  statistics  of  death  before  us. 

3.  The  total  number  of  persons  inhabiting  houses  of  each  size  I 
have  estimated  from  certain  useful  returns  of  the  Registrar- General, 
based  on  the  Census  of  1871.*  From  these  sources  I  calculate  that 
in  Glasgow  the  average  number  of  inmates  of  houses  of  various  sizes 
is  as  follows  : — 


1  Apt.,  3  29  persons. 


2    „      4-97       „ 


3  Apts.,  5*27  persons. 

4  „       6-79       „ 
5  Apts.  and  above,  10*75  persons. 


The  accuracy  of  these  estimates  is  confirmed  by  observation,  bu* 
especially  by  this,  that  by  applying  them  to  the  various  sizes  o^ 
houses  inhabited  in  any  one  year,  we  get  the  exact  population  of 
that  year. 

The  result  of  all  these  calculations  is  before  me  in  a  tabular  form, 
and  before  you  in  the  left-hand  portion  of  the  diagram,  headed 
Death-rate  per  Million  in  Houses  of  various  sizes  in  Glasgow 
according  to  size  of  houses,  and  according  to  Sewer-connections  in 
small  houses  (Plate  IV.) 

*  Census  Report,  vol.  i.,  p.  xxxvii,  and  p.  275. 


Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  29 


Size  or  House. 

Death  Rmc 

• 
FEE  MlIXIOX. 

Diph- 
theria, 

Enteric 
Ferer. 

Diar- 
rhea*. 

Croup. 

1  Apartment,  .... 

o 

-             t»           .... 

3 
4 
5            „            .... 

163 
250 
292 
277 
126 

390 
459 
574 
374 
186 

1446 
919 
548 
304 
307 

421 
344 
183 
142 
91 

The  left  half  of  the  diagram  shows  the  death-rates  in  houses  of  one, 
two,  three,  four,  and  five  or  more  apartments,  following  in  succes- 
sion for  each  disease  from  left  to  right.  Your  eye  will  tell  you  that 
the  death-rates  from  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever  increase  steadily 
from  one  apartment  up  to  three  apartments,  whore  they  culmi- 
nate in  both  diseases,  to  find  in  both  their  lowest  level  in  the  largest 
size  of  house.  On  the  other  hand,  the  death-rates  from  diarrhoea  and 
croup  are  at  their  maximum  in  houses  of  one  apartment,  and  descend, 
in  steady  gradations,  to  a  minimum  in  houses  of  the  largest  size. 
Now,  in  all  the  vertical  sections  of  this  part  of  the  diagram,  and  in 
each  column  of  the  table,  we  are  dealing  with  the  same  people  living 
in  the  same  houses,  yet  while  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever  agree  in 
their  mode  of  incidence  upon  those  people,  diarrhoea  and  croup  mani- 
fest quite  a  different  law  ;  consequently  there  must  be  some  property 
or  peculiarity  about  those  houses  which  produces  a  different  affinity 
for,  or  proclivity  to,  those  diseases.  It  is  as  when  a  piece  of  calico, 
having  a  pattern  described  upon  it  with  mordant,  is  dipped  into  a 
dye,  and  when  it  is  washed,  the  dye  is  fixed  in  the  parts  which  are 
prepared,  but  disappears  from  those  which  are  not.  What  is  the 
mordant  which  fixes  the  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever  upon  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  houses  of  two  and  three  apartments  1 

We  learn  from  Dr.  Fergus's  return  that  1 J  per  cent,  of  the  houses 
of  one  apartment  in  the  city  actually  had  a  water-closet  inside  of 
them,  and  that  about  32  per  cent,  more  had  sinks.  We  learn  also 
that  13  per  cent,  of  the  two  apartment  houses  had  inside  water-closets, 
and  56  per  cent,  more  had  sinks.  Therefore,  in  one  way  or  another, 
the  internal  atmosphere  of  fully  33  per  cent,  of  the  one  apartment, 
and  69  per  cent,  of  the  two  apartment  houses  was  in  communication 
with  the  drains.  The  question  then  is,  does  it  make  any  difference 
to  the  inhabitants  of  a  one  or  two  apartment  house  that  there  is  or 
is  not  a  communication  between  the  house  air  and  the  sewers? 


30 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


Ar<;  they,  or  are  they  not,  more  liable  to  be  fertilised  with  the  germs 
of  those  diseases  ? 

You  will  find  the  answer  in  the  right  hand  portion  of  the  diagram, 
in  which  the  numerical  statements  contained  in  a  table  before  me 
ar<;  depicted.  The  size  of  house  is  marked  under  each  vertical 
fcubdi vision  by  numerals,  and  above  each  numeral  are  three  columns, 
whose  height  indicates  the  comparative  death-rate  in  houses  of 
that  size,  according  to  their  sewer  connection,  which  is  shown  by 
word*  at  the  top  of  each  column.  As  only  one  death  from  enteric 
fever,  one  from  croup,  and  none  from  diphtheria  were  recorded 
in  a  house  of  one  apartment  having  a  water-closet,  that  column  is 
merely  dotted  in  for  uniformity  under  those  diseases,  and  there  are 
blank*  in  the  table. 


H^wcr  Conne?tioni. 


Water-closets, 
Sink,   . 
None,  •        • 


Diphtheria. 

Enteric  Fever. 

Diarrhoea. 

Croop. 

1  Apt. 

253 
120 

2  Apt. 

i 

1  Apt  '  2  Apt 

lApt     2  Apt 

1  Apt 

3  Apt 

418 
275 
127 

677 
249 

665 
465 
386 

1,978 

,  2,194 

1,072 

667 
998 
880 

633 
324 

294 
338 
366 

Your  eye  will  again  tell  you  that  the  death-rates  of  diphtheria  and 
enteric  fever  are  both  at  their  minimum  in  houses  of  one  and  of  two 
apartments,  which  have  no  communication  with  the  sewers ;  and  at 
their  maximum  in  those  one  apartment  houses  which  have  sinks, 
and  in  those  two  apartment  houses  which  have  water-closets — that 
is  to  say,  if  you  have  a  house  of  one  apartment  with  no  direct  means 
of  access  for  the  specific  germs,  you  may  yet  have  120  deaths  per 
million  from  diphtheria,  and  249  from  enteric  fever ;  if  you  intro- 
duce a  sink,  you  may  have  a  death-rate  of  253  from  diphtheria  and 
077  from  enteric  fever.  So,  if  you  have  a  house  of  two  apartments, 
with  no  direct  means  of  access  for  the  specific  germs,  you  may  still 
have  a  death-rate  of  127  per  million  from  diphtheria,  and  386  from, 
enteric  fever ;  if  you  introduce  a  sink,  you  may  have  a  death-rate  of 
275  from  diphtheria,  and  465  from  enteric  fever;  and  if  to  the 
luxury  of  a  sink  you  add  that  of  a  water-closet  inside  such  a  house, 
you  may  have  a  death-rate  of  418  from  diphtheria,  and  665  from 
enteric  fever. 

Now,  these  facts  not  only  prove,  without,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  the  inhabitants  of  one  and  two  apartment 
houses  run  a  risk  of  impregnation  with  these  specific  germs,  which 


Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Totcn  and  Country.  31 

is  increased  as  you  introduce  sinks  and  water-closets  within  their 
houses,  hut  they  also  prove  these  conveniences  to  he  factors  of  those 
diseases  wherever  they  are  found,  unless  controlled  and  limited  in 
their  action  by  overruling  or  modifying  circumstances.  If  you  go  hack 
to  the  left  hand  part  of  this  diagram,  you  observe  that  the  culmina- 
ting point  of  the  mortality  of  these  two  diseases  is  in  houses  of  three 
apartments.  Unfortunately,  for  reasons  already  stated,  I  cannot 
tell  you  the  proportion  of  these  houses  which  have  or  have  not 
water-closets  or  sinks,  hut  if  we  know  that  when  we  pass  from  the 
class  of  one  apartments  to  that  of  two  apartments,  we  rise  from  33 
per  cent,  to  69  per  cent,  of  internal  sewer-connections,  we  may  be 
quite  certain  that  three  and  four  apartment  houses  have  every  one 
a  sink,  and  nearly  every  one  a  water-closet  inside,  while  houses  of 
five  or  more  apartments  are  all  so  provided — the  larger,  indeed, 
having  several.  What  is  it,  then,  that  controls  those  factors  of  specific 
disease,  so  that  in  fact  the  mortality  from  both  is  lower  in  houses  of 
the  largest  size  wit/i  all  Hiese  conveniences^  than  in  Jwuses  of  the  smallest 
size  which  are  entirely  without  them  ? 

Here  we  may  take  up  those  parts  of  the  tables  and  diagram 
which  refer  to  diarrhoea  and  croup  (Plate  IV,  right  hand  portion). 
The  mortality  from  these  diseases  culminates  among  those  who 
inhabit  one  apartment  houses,  and  declines  without  a  break  to 
its  minimum  in  the  largest  houses;  and  when  we  compare 
the  mortality  in  the  smaller  houses  in  relation  to  their  sewer- 
connections,  we  do  not  lind  that  agreement  or  consentaneous 
movement  which  indicates  the  casual  relationship.  In  the 
diarrhoeal  columns  for  one  apartment  that  representing  the 
death-rate  in  houses  having  a  sink  is  highest,  the  water-closet 
column  is  next,  and  the  column  for  houses  having  no  sewer- 
connection  is  nearly  one-half  lower  than  either.  On  the  other 
hand,  you  observe  that  in  two  apartment  houses,  while  the  diarrhoeal 
death-rate  is  highest  in  those  having  "  sinks,"  it  is  one-third  lower 
in  those  having  water-closets,  and  only  one-ninth  lower  in  those 
having  no  sewer-connection  whatever.  As  to  croup,  although  the 
death-rate  is  highest  in  one  apartment  houses  which  are  provided 
with  "sinks"  inside,  the  three  classes  of  two  apartment  houses 
follow  the  very  reverse  order  to  that  which  we  observe  in  diphtheria 
and  enteric  fever — viz.,  from  a  minimum  in  those  with  water-closets 
to  a  maximum  in  those  having  neither  water-closet  nor  "sinks." 

Now,  I  take  it  that  we  have,  both  in  the  descent  from  the  cul- 
minating point  at  three  apartments  in  the  mortality  from  diphtheria 
and  enteric  fever,  and  in  the  continuous  descent  in  the  mortality  of 


33  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

diarrhoea  and  croup,  as  you  proceed  from  the  smallest  to  the  largest 
size  of  house,  the  predominance  of  a  great  general  law  of  mortality 
in  regard  to  the  house  accommodation  of  the  people.  I  believe 
that  if  you  were  to  classify  the  whole  population  of  the  city  accord- 
ing as  they  occupied  houses  of  one,  two,  three,  four,  five,  or  more 
apartments,  and  then  to  ascertain  the  aggregate  death-rate  from  all 
causes  in  each  class,  you  would  find  that  it  followed  exactly  the  order 
of  the  diarrhoea  and  croup  columns  in  the  left  hand  part  of  the 
diagram.  It  would  have  its  maximum  in  the  population  living  in 
one  apartment  houses,  and  fall  in  gradations  to  a  minimum  among 
those  who  inhabited  the  largest  houses.  The  rental,  and  conse- 
quently the  size  and  comfort  of  a  man's  house,  bears  in  the  aggre- 
gate a  constant  relation  to  his  general  well-being.  The  small  house 
means  straitness  of  circumstance  from  whatever  cause,  and  brings 
with  it  a  constant  tendency  to  overcrowding  with  its  morbific 
influences,  especially  in  the  production  of  pulmonary  diseases,  the 
aggravation  of  the  infectious  diseases,  especially  of  childhood,  and 
that  general  deterioration  of  the  moral  tone  and  social  virtues 
which  tells  with  fatal  effect  upon  those  who  depend  upon  those 
virtues  most  for  the  tenure  of  thoir  frail  lives — the  infants.  While, 
therefore,  I  believe  that  in  reference  to  the  excess  of  diarrhoeal 
deaths  among  those  who  inhabit  one  and  two  apartment  houses  pro- 
vided Vith  sinks,  there  may  be  a  slight  evidence  of  a  deleterious 
influence  emanating  from  those  sinks,  and  producing  infantile 
diarrhoea,  and  also  that  a  proportion  of  the  disease  associated  with 
sinks  in  one  apartment  houses,  and  called  croup,  may  be  in  reality 
diphtheria,  still  those  two  diseases  manifest  much  more  decidedly 
that  influence  of  selection  which  the  size  and  quality  of  the  house 
exercises  in  aggregating  the  population  into  groups,  over  whose 
general  mortality  the  law  presides,  of  increase  pari  jhissu  with  the 
decrease  of  the  rental  and  consequent  accommodation  and  sanitary 
and  social  advantages.* 

*  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  establish  &  relation  between  this  fact  of 
general  "  well-being  "  and  mortality,  by  com] taring  income  and  death-rate. 
Virchow  touches  on  the  subject  in  his  report,  "  Reinigung  und  Entwasserung 
Berlins,"  p.  75;  but  the  following  is  a  better  example  of  the  result,  derived  from 
a  classification  of  the  inhabitants  of  Barmen,  as  given  by  Dr.  Sander,  in  his 

"Handbuch  der  offentlichen  Gesundheitspflege,"  p.  106. 

Average  doath-rntr— 
Income  Population.  5  years  (1*70-74). 

0— £30  54,559  34$ 

£30-£75  8,421  19 

£75— £150  2,612  18 

above  £150  1,693  16^ 


Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  on  Filth-Diseases  in  Town  and  Country.  33 

It  is  the  absence  of  the  sewer-connection  by  sink  and  water-closet 
with  the  internal  atmosphere  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  one  and 
two  apartment  houses  which  removes  their  inhabitants  from  tho 
action  of  this  law,  so  far  as  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever  are  con- 
cerned. If  every  house  of  each  size  were  connected  alike  with  the 
drains  and  sewers,  then  I  am  sure  the  diseases  specially  associated 
with  such  misplaced  connections  would  conform  to  the  general  law, 
and  be  at  their  maximum  in  the  smallest  houses.  On  the  other 
hand,  and  this  is  the  practical  issue  of  these  facts,  I  am  also  con- 
vinced that  if  we  banish  water-closets  from  the  inside  of  our  small- 
sized  houses  j  if  we  make  their  sinks  discharge  in  the  open  air  over 
a  gulley  in  the  court ;  if  we  thoroughly  revise  at  sight  of  competent 
public  officers  all  water-closets  and  sewer-connections  in  our  largo 
houses  and  on  common  stairs,  or  wherever  found ;  if  we  ventilate 
our  sewers  and  house  drains  on  the  separate  system,  and  entirely 
give  up  using  cistern  water  for  dietetic  purposes,  we  shall  reduce  our 
mortality  from  diphtheria  and  enteric  fever  to  the  lowest  possible 
minimum.  Even  with  all  the  outrageous  blunders  of  position  and 
construction  in  our  largest  and  best  houses,  and  without  that  official 
inspection  of  new  buildings  in  regard  to  details  of  sanitary  arrange- 
ment which  ought  to  be  instituted,  you  have  seen  that  in  these 
houses,  in  the  four  years,  1873-7G,  the  mortality  from  diphtheria  was 
only  126  per  million,  and  from  enteric  fever  186,  rates  which  are 
far  below  those  which  constantly  prevail  in  the  majority  of  purely 
country  districts,  as  depicted  on  those  diagrams,  and  also  much 
below  the  mortality  from  enteric  fever  in  small  houses  which  have 
no  sewer  connections  whatever.  But  how  do  those  diseases  occur 
in  houses  with  no  sewer  connection  ?  If  we  find  that  17  per  cent. 
of  all  the  cases  of  diphtheria,  and  21  per  cent,  of  all  the  cases  of 
enteric  fever  arise  in  houses  which  arc  destitute  of  those  channels 
of  access,  which  are  so  freely  blamed  with  all  that  happens  inside 
houses  which  have  those  channels  of  access,  then  it  is  clearly  illogical 
to  continue  so  to  blame  them.  We  must  look  elsewhere  for  the 
cause,  to  importation '  by  contaminated  food,  possibly  to  ill  con- 
ditioned ash-pits,  and  while  putting  themselves  in  order,  our  cities 

There  is  therefore  a  falling  death-rate  with  a  rising  income,  but  manifestly  the 
income  does  not  cover  all  the  elements  which  regulate  the  death-rate,  and  I 
fancy  the  house-rent  would  develop  a  much  more  intimate  relation.  It  is  that 
portion  of  income  devoted  to  supplying  tho  prime  necessary  of  life — a  house  to 
live  in.  Therefore  it  gives  expression  to  those  vices  which  divert  income  from 
its  legitimate  uses,  as  well  as  to  those  virtues  which  have  the  opposite 
tendency. 

Vol.  XL— No.  1.  n 


34  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

must  push  for  an  improvement  in  the  local  sanitary  organisation  of 
the  country,  which  will  relieve  them  of  a  constant  source  of  danger. 
The  power  which  shall  move  the  dry  bones  of  rural  sanitary  au- 
thorities must  come  from  within  the  towns ;  and  I  would  recommend 
the  subject  to  the  attention  of  our  City  Members  as  one  which  is, 
without  doubt,  "within  the  sphere  of  practical  politics." 


V. — On  the  Regeneration  of  t/ie  Sulphur  employed  in  the  Alkali 
Manufacture,  as  conducted  at  the  Works  of  Messrs.  Charles 
Tennant  &  Co.,  St.  RoUox,  by  the  "Mactear"  process.  By 
James  Mactear,  F.C.S.,  London  and  Paris. 


[Read  before  the  Chemical  Section,  November  26,  1877.] 


Notwithstanding  the  beauty  of  the  Leblanc  process  of  alkali 
manufacture,  there  remains  the  reproach  against  it,  so  often  made 
by  those  who  consider  it  solely  from  a  theoretical  point  of  view, 
that  the  two  raw  materials,  sulphur  and  lime,  are  both  (with 
trifling  exception)  completely  lost  as  waste  products,  and  not  only 
are  they  lost,  but  they  form  a  refuse  material  which  is  of  the  most 
objectionable  character. 

So  far  theory,  whilst  practically  there  is  perhaps  in  all  the  wide 
.range  of  industrial  methods,  no  more  perfect  and  simple  a  process 
than  that  of  Leblanc. 

That  this  objection  to  the  process  still  exists  is  not  due  to  want 
of  appreciation  of  the  facts,  because  the  amount  of  research  and 
experiment  that  has  been  expended  on  the  subject  is  almost  beyond 
belief.  Almost  every  chemist,  even  remotely  connected  with  the 
alkali  manufacture,  has  at  one  time  or  other  of  his  career  attacked 
the  problem,  although  in  most  cases  with  but  scant  success. 

The  attention  of  investigators  seems  primarily  to  have  been 
turned  in  two  directions  : — 

1st.  Towards  the  production  and    subsequent  utilisation  of 

sulphuretted  hydrogen  from  the  alkali  waste. 
2nd.  Towards  the  production  of  hyposulphites  from  the  sulphur 
compounds  of  the  waste. 

This  ultimately  leading  to  the  production  of  sulphur 
from  mixtures  of  sulphides  and  hyposulphites  by  decom- 
position with  hydrochloric  acid. 


Mr.  Mactear  on  the  Regeneration  of  Sulphur. 


35 


Many  talented  inventors  have  worked  out  processes  which 
theoretically  would  enable  the  noxious  waste  to  be  turned  into 
marketable  commodities ;  but  more  than  this  is  required  :  a  process, 
to  be  a  success,  must  be  one  which  will  yield  a  profit  on  the  capital 
employed,  and  it  is  this  question  of  cost  that  has  rendered  useless, 
for  the  present  at  least,  such  methods  as  that  of  the  late  Mr. 
Gossage,  whose  labours  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  sulphur 
recovery,  as  well  as  the  capital  he  so  unsuccessfully  expended, 
entitle  him  to  the  foremost  place  amongst  those  whose  names  are 
connected  with  this  subject.  In  his  own  words  before  the  Royal 
Commission  on  Noxious  Vapours  in  1862,  "  he  had  devoted  thirty 
years  of  his  life  and  a  fortune  "  to  the  pursuit  of  this  idea. 

Scheurer  Kestner,  in  an  elegant  and  interesting  paper  published 
in  the  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  IndustrieUe  de  Midhouse,  gives  an 
outline  of  various  processes  suggested  up  to  1868,  where  we  find 
the  names  of 


Gossage. 

Delamaure, 

Kopp. 

Losh. 

Noble. 

Favre. 

Spencer. 

To  these  must  be  added  the  names  of 


Fowler. 

Duclos. 

Blair  <fc  Watson. 

Hills. 


Townsend  «fc  Walker. 

Mond. 

Guckelberger. 

Leighton. 

schaffner. 

Hoffman. 


J.  L.  Bell. 

JULLION. 

Mactear. 


And  to  these  again  many  others  whose  names  are  to  be  found 
chiefly  in  the  lists  of  patents. 

Of  all  these  processes,  only  four — those  of  Mond,  Schaffner, 
Hoffman,  and  Mactear — have  been  worked  on  anything  like  a  large 
scale  with  success ;  the  first  and  last  of  these  being  by  far  the  most 
successful. 

The  process  of  Mr.  Mond  has  been  described  very  fully  and 
clearly  by  the  inventor  in  a  paper  read  before  the  British  Association 
in  1868  at  Norwich,  and  also  in  papers  read  before  the  Glasgow 
Philosophical  Society  and  the  Newcastle-on-Tyne  Chemical  Society, 
and  these  may  be  referred  to  for  details. 


36  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Briefly  stated,  the  process  deals  with  the  waste  produced  in  the 
alkali  manufacture,  in  promoting  the  partial  oxidation  of  the  sulphur 
and  calcium  compounds  by  forcing  air  through  a  mass  of  waste,  then 
washing  out  the  soluble  compounds  thus  formed  with  water,  and 
decomposing  with  hydrochloric  acid. 

It  was  stated  in  the  paper  above  referred  to,  that  the  sulphur 
could  be  thus  recovered  at  a  cost  of  20/  per  ton.  This  statement 
was  made  before  the  process  had  been  sufficiently  worked  on  a  large 
scale  to  enable  the  cost  to  be  ascertained,  and  is  much  under  the 
mark ;  indeed,  when  all  the  elements  of  cost  have  been  added,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  cost  of  one  ton  of  sulphur  actually  produced 
will  be  not  much — if  any — under  80/  per  ton. 

The  "Mactear"  process  owes  its  origin  to  the  great  nuisance 
produced  by  the  natural  oxidation  of  the  enormous  heaps  of  alkali 
waste,  and  its  subsequent  lixiviation  either  by  rainfall  or  by  springs 
under  the  heaps,  and  differs  in  the  first  instance  from  Mond's 
process,  in  that  it  proposes  simply  to  deal  with  the  drainage  liquors 
from  the  deposits,  and  not  by  any  special  separate  treatment  of 
the  waste. 

The  principle  on  which  all  these  processes  for  the  recovery  of  the 
sulphur  have  been  based  is  identical,  and  lies  in  the  decomposition 
of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  by  sulphurous  acid,  or  such  decompositions 
as  are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  equal  to  this. 

It  is  of  course  necessary  that  the  lime  sulphur  compounds  must 
be  in  such  proportions  that  on  the  addition  of  hydrochloric  acid 
with  proper  precaution,  there  shall  be  practically  no  evolution  of 
sulphuretted  hydrogen;  and  in  Mond's  process  it  has  been  found 
extremely  difficult  to  obtain  in  practice  liquors  of  tho  required 
composition;  and  if  the  workmen  are  at  all  careless,  there  is  apt  to 
be  a  considerable  evolution  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen. 

In  the  "Mactear"  process  the  apportionment  of  the  various  sul- 
phur compounds  is  very  simple,  and  the  evolution  of  sulphuretted 
hydrogen,  except  in  cases  of  the  most  gross  carelessness,  is  very 
slight  indeed.  Although  this  process  has  until  very  recently  only 
been  in  use  at  the  works  of  Messrs.  Charles  Tennant  &  Co.  at  St. 
Rollox,  yet  by  it  more  sulphur  has  been  recovered  than  by  any 
other  process  hitherto  introduced. 

The  heaps  of  alkali  waste  at  tho  St.  Rollox  Works  have  been 
accumulating  for  over  forty  years,  and  are  chiefly  deposited  on  the 
surface  of  an  old  "bog"  or  "peat  moss,"  which  has  been  formed  in  a 
natural  basin  in  sandstone  rock.  This  bog  is  of  large  extent,  and 
contains  many  springs  of  water,  which,  rising  up  under  the  waste, 


Mr.  Mactear  an  the  Regeneration  of  Sulphur.  37 

dissolve  out  the  soluble  sulphur  compounds,  and  give  rise  to  a  large 
flow  of  what  is  commonly  called  "yellow  liquor,"  which  is  a  com- 
plex sulphide  of  calcium,  holding  also  in  solution  free  sulphur. 
This  liquor  was  for  many  years  allowed  to  flow  with  the  natural 
drainage  of  the  land  into  a  stream  called  the  "Pinkston  Burn," 
which,  after  traversing  a  considerable  portion  of  the  city  of  Glasgow 
as  a  covered  sewer,  falls  into  the  river  Kelvin  at  some  little  distance 
from  its  junction  with  the  Clyde.  This  burn  in  its  course  receives 
liquid  refuse  of  all  sorts  other  than  mere  sewage,  notably  refuse 
from  distilleries,  and  these  being  acid,  gave  off  from  the  sulphide  of 
calcium  liquors  sulphuretted  hydrogen  in  such  quantities  as  to  give 
rise  to  a  most  intolerable  nuisance,  of  which  the  public  had  good 
reason  to  complain. 

The  writer's  two  predecessors  in  the  management  of  the  works 
of  Messrs.  Charles  Tennant  &  Co.,  the  late  Messrs.  C.  T.  Dunlop 
and  John  Tennent,  used  their  best  endeavours  to  abate  or  remove 
the  cause  of  complaint;  but  in  the  then  state  of  knowledge  it  was 
not  found  possible  to  overcome  it,  although  a  large  sum  of  money 
was  expended  in  the  attempts. 

An  effort  to  abate  the  evil  by  intercepting  the  springs  of  water 
which  were  supposed  to  exist  under  the  deposits  was  made — a 
shaft  being  sunk  to  the  sandstone  rock  some  40  or  50  feet  in 
depth,  and  a  series  of  mines  or  galleries  were  then  driven  in 
various  directions,  extending  in  one  direction  to  nearly  300  yards, 
and  following  up  all  water  sources  that  were  met  with.  A  large 
amount  of  water  was  thus  drained  off,  and  it  was  pumped  out  of 
the  mine  and  run  away.  This  was  continued  night  and  day  for 
years,  and  must  no  doubt  have  decreased  the  amount  of  sulphide 
of  calcium  liquor,  which  however  existed  still  to  the  extent  of 
about  30,000  gallons  per  day,  of  from  11°  to' 14°  Twaddell. 

The  rainfall  of  Glasgow  being  about  42  inches  per  annum,  and 
one  inch  of  water  being  equal  very  nearly  to  100  tons  per  acre, 
the  amount  of  drainage  due  to  the  rainfall  alone,  supposing  half 
the  total  amount  of  rain  to  pass  through  the  mass  of  waste  (which 
is  of  rather  a  porous  nature),  would  be  very  nearly  1300  gallons 
per  acre  per  day.  The  deposits  covered  at  this  period  about  10 
acres,  so  that  there  would  be  equal  to  at  least  13,000  gallons  per 
day  due  to  rainfall  alone. 

The  damp  climate  of  Glasgow  thus  adds  to  the  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  utilising  the  waste  and  prevention  of  nuisance. 

In  the  year  1864  an  iron  pipe  of  some  9  inches  diameter  was 
laid  direct  from  the  St.  Eollox  Works  to  the  River  Clyde,  and  the 


38  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

sulphide  of  calcium  liquors  were  thereafter  run  away  by  this 
channel — a  large  reservoir  being  constructed  to  enable  the  liquid 
to  be  stored  up,  so  that  it  might  only  be  allowed  to  flow  away 
into  the  river  while  flooded  with  rain,  which  in  our  climate  is 
not  seldom. 

Still  the  nuisance,  although  it  had  been  removed  altogether 
from  the  district  in  which  it  had  formerly  given  such  cause  of 
complaint,  was  only  transferred  in  a  lessened  degree  to  another, 
and  serious  complaints  were  made  as  to  smell,  and  also  as  to  an 
alleged  action  of  the  water  of  the  Clyde  on  the  copper  sheathing 
of  the  ships  which  lay  in  the  river.  The  late  Professor  Anderson 
made  an  investigation,  and  prepared  a  long  and  interesting  report 
on  the  subject  for  the  Clyde  Trustees  in  1865,  and  thereafter, 
year  by  year,  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  Messrs.  Tennant 
by  the  authorities,  in  order  to  force  them  to  take  such  steps 
as  were  possible  to  prevent  nuisance  arising  from  this  drain- 
age. 

And  here  it  is  worth  considering  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties 
in  dealing  with  a  question  of  this  kind.     It  is  this : — 

The  drainage  comes  chiefly  from  heaps  of  waste  which  have 
been  some  time  deposited,  not  from  the  fresh  waste,  and  if  the 
usual  cry  of  the  aggrieved  public  were  to  be  acted  upon,  and  the 
works  abolished  or  forced  to  remove,  the  drainage  would  still 
remain,  and  continue  for  years  to  be  as  great  a  nuisance  as  before  ; 
indeed,  were  an  alkali  work  compelled  to  close  on  account  of  its 
waste  heap  drainage  nuisance,  there  would  be  no  hope  whatever 
of  the  nuisance  being  reduced  for  years  to  come.  On  the  other 
hand,  by  such  a  process  as  that  now  in  use  at  St.  Rollox,  the 
alkali  work,  while  it  produces  hydrochloric  acid,  can  utilise  this 
waste  drainage  liquor  without  nuisance ;  and  thus  the  best  means 
of  removing  cause  of  complaint  of  alkali  waste  drainage,  is  by 
encouraging  the  alkali  works  to  remain  and  to  undertake  the 
production  of  sulphur. 

In  the  year  1867  the  writer's  firm  erected  plant  for  the  sulphur 
recovery  process  of  Mr.  Mond,  which  we  proposed  working  on  a 
modified  system,  in  which  the  drainage  liquors  were  to  be  used 
instead  of  water  for  lixiviating  the  oxidised  waste. 

So  far  as  the  production  of  sulphur  was  concerned,  this  process 
succeeded  admirably;  but  the  evolution  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen, 
when  the  liquors  were  not  of  exactly  the  correct  proportions  for 
decomposition,  and  also  that  given  off  during  the  oxidation  of  the 
waste,  which,  in  the  large  scale  on  which  the  process  was  employed 


Mr.  Mactear  on  tlie  Regeneration  of  Sulphur.  39 

at  the   St.  Rollox  Works,  was  considerable,  caused  serious  com- 
plaints in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  works. 

The  very  large  amount  of  plant  required  also,  and  the  fact  that 
it  was  not  found  possible  to  work  up  by  it  all  the  drainage 
liquors,  induced  the  writer  to  again  carefully  study  the  subject  in 
all  its  bearings ;  and  after  a  long  series  of  experiments,  many  of 
them,  like  those  of  former  workers  in  the  same  direction,  failures, 
he  succeeded  in  developing  the  process  which  has  been  so  success- 
fully worked  at  St.  Rollox,  and  bears  his  name. 

As  has  been  said,  the  principle  of  all  the  processes  for  the 
recovery  of  sulphur  from  alkali  waste  lies  in  the  mutual  decom- 
position of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  and  sulphurous  acid. 

The  "Mactear"  process  depends  on  the  decomposition  of  the 
sulphides  of  calcium  by  hydrochloric  acid,  in  the  presence  of  a 
source  of  sulphurous  acid. 

The  process  has  various  modifications,  each  of  which  is  appli- 
cable under  special  circumstances  : — 

1st.  The  drainage  liquor  usually  called  "yellow  liquor"  is 
mixed  with  a  small  proportion  of  lime,  and  then  treated 
with  sulphurous  acid,  which  it  absorbs,  giving  a  small 
quantity  of  sulphur.  The  liquid  containing  this  sulphur 
in  suspension  is  then  decomposed  at  a  temperature  of 
about  140°  Fahr. 

This  method  gives  good  results,  but  is  difficult  to 
regulate,  and  is  subject  to  the  same  objection  as  Mond's 
process,  in  that  it  is  difficult  to  regulate  the  composition 
of  the  liquors,  even  when  only  a  portion  of  the  yellow 
liquor  is  treated  with  sulphurous  acid,  and  then  mixed 
with  the  remaining  portion  and  hydrochloric  acid. 

It  is  also,  in  consequence  of  this  difficulty,  apt  to 
give  rise  to  an  evolution  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  and 
cause  a  nuisance. 
2nd.  The  modification  actually  worked  for  the  past  five  years 
is  that  of  using  a  solution  of  sulphurous  acid  in  water. 
This  is  obtained  either  from  pyrites,  or  from  the  refuse 
sulphur  from  the  process. 

The  condensing  towers  are  built  of  wood,  common 
flooring  boards,  well  jointed,  and  bound  with  iron 
corner  pieces  and  tie  rods.  These  towers  after  five 
years'  use,  seem  at  this  date  almost  as  good,  and  the 
wood  as  fresh  as  when  new. 

These  towers  are  filled  with  coke  in  three  stages, 


40  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgmo. 

strong  cross  joists  dividing  the  tower  into  three  divisions. 
A  tray,  with  a  large  number  of  little  tubes  of  lead, 
covered  over  with  lutes  to  avoid  entrance  of  air,  divides 
the  water  into  fine  streams,  and  the  sulphurous  acid  gas 
is  then  led  up  one  tower,  down  to  the  bottom,  and  up 
another  tower. 

The  solution  of  sulphurous  acid  in  water,  in  practice, 
is  only  of  about  2°  Twaddell,  and  in  this  lies  the  worst 
feature  of  this  modification  of  the  process — viz.,  the 
heating  to  the  proper  temperature  for  decomposition  of 
such  a  large  bulk  of  liquid. 

The  solution  of  sulphurous  acid  is  led,  by  means  of  a 
wooden  shute,  to  the  decomposing  vessels,  and  is  mixed 
on  its  way  with  a  stream  of  the  yellow  liquor,  or  sul- 
phide of  calcium;  it  then  runs  into  the  decomposing 
vessel,  where  it  is  met  by  a  stream  of  hydrochloric  acid, 
the  whole  kept  carefully  at  as  near  145°  Fahr.  as 
possible ;  with  moderate  care,  little  sulphuretted  hydro- 
gen is  evolved,  and  the  decomposition  is  regulated  in 
the  easiest  manner  by  a  very  simple  means  of  testing : — 
a  burette  is  fixed  to  a  wooden  upright,  and  filled  with 
the  yellow  liquor,  a  sample  is  drawn  from  the  decom- 
posing vessel,  a  drop  of  solution  of  sulphate  of  iron 
added,  and  then  the  yellow  liquor  run  in  from  the 
burette;  the  number  of  divisions  required  to  blacken 
the  solution  indicate  the  acid  still  present. 

The  sulphur  is  allowed  to  settle,  and  the  clear  liquor 

run  off  through  a  catch  pit,  so  as  to  retain  any  sulphur 

that  might  otherwise  be  lost ;  and  after  some  five  or  six 

operations,  the  sulphur  sludge  is  run  oft"  into  a  drainer. 

After  draining  into  a  stiffish  mud,  it  is  transferred  to  a  melting 

vessel,  where  it  is  melted  by  steam,  and,  if  necessary,  the  arsenic 

removed  by  an  application  of  the  well-known  fact  that  alkaline 

sulphides  dissolve  sulphide  of  arsenic.      This  process  was   first 

applied  at  St.  Rollox  in  1869,  while  working  Mond's  process,  and 

has  been  adopted  by  almost  all  those  manufacturers  who  recover 

sulphur.     It  has  the  drawback,  however,  that  it  also  removes  a 

quantity  of  sulphur,  which  is  of  course  just  so  much  loss. 

The  plant  required  is  simple,  and,  looking  at  the  results  obtained, 
very  inexpensive. 
It  consists  of — 
1st.  Pumping  arrangement  and  cistern  for  the  yellow  liquor. 


Mr.  Mactear  on  the  Regeneration  of  Sulphur.  41 

2nd.  Kilns  for  burning  pyrites  or  sulphur,  and  producing  SO*. 
3rd.  Condensing  towers  and  water  supply. 
*  4th.  Steam  boiler. 

5th.  Wooden  decomposers,  with  stirring  gear. 
6th.  Wooden  drainers  for  the  sulphur. 
7  th.  Steam  melting  arrangements. 

And  the  following  is  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  plant  now  at 
work  at  St.  Rollox : — 


Mactear' s  Sulphur  Recovery  Process. 
Cost  op  Plant. 

To  Produce  30  to  35  Tons  Weekly. 

Sulphur  burners, £38  0  0 

Cast-iron  tunnel, 130  0  0 

Lead  tunnel, 22  0  0 

Scaffolding  for  pipes, 16  0  0 

Condensing  to  were, 162  0  0 

Pipes  and  fittings,  &c, 35  0  0 

Wooden  decomposing  vessels, 163  0  0 

Engine  and  gearing, 160  0  0 

Valves,  runs,  taps,  &&, 64  0  0 

Water  tank, 24  0  0 

Steam  and  water  pipes, 50  0  0 

Pumping  engine, 40  0  0 

Steam  boilers 600  0  0 

Brickwork  and  fittings, 1 10  0  0 

Melters  and  fittings, 151  0  0 

Square  draining  tanks, 120  0  0 

Roofs, 134  0  0 

£2019    0    0 

All  this  plant  is  substantially  erected,  and  likely  to  last  for  many 
years,  with  ordinary  repair. 

It  is  capable  of  making  35  tons  of  sulphur  weekly,  from  yellow 
liquors  of  about  11°  Twaddell;  when  less  than  this  strength,  the 
increased  bulk  of  liquid  prevents  the  necessary  amount  being 
worked  in  the  decomposers. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  cost  of  manufacturing  one  ton, 
with  the  consumpt  of  coals,  acid  and  pyrites : — 


42 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


Detailed  Cost  of  One  Ton  of  Sulphur  by 
"Mactear"  Process. 


1 

Cwt    Qr.  Lb. 

Rats. 

Cost.       1 

1    Pyrites  Sulphur, .... 

8     0   25 

39/ 

16-03/     j 

'    Salt,    * 

35     1    18 

16/ 

2833/     ! 

Vitriol, 

29     3   27 

30/ 

45-00/ 

Coal, 

114     2     7 

4-4/ 

25-20/ 

Repairs, 

•  •  • 

4-00/ 

Wages, 

•  •  • 

38-50/ 

157*06/ 

Off  Sulphate  of  Soda,   . 
,    Net  Cost  of  One  Tod  of  Sulphur, . 

39     0  21 

49/ 

••  • 

96-01/ 

61-05/ 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  cost,  which  is  based  on  an  experience  of 
five  years,  and  extracted  from  the  annual  accounts  of  my  firm, 
shows  that  a  ton  of  sulphur  has  been  made  for  an  expenditure  of 
about  Gl/  per  ton.  In  this  nothing  is  charged  for  hydrochloric 
acid ;  it  is  usual  to  treat  hydrochloric  acid  in  this  way  when  used 
in  the  manufacture  of  bleaching  powder,  and  therefore  it  is  the 
proper  way  to  compare  the  results  on  the  same  basis. 

We  may  assume  that  the  Weldon  process  is  the  one  by  which 

bleaching  powder  is  now  almost   universally  made,  and   that   it 

requires  in  the  usual  practice  the  acid  of 

55  cwts.  of  salt  to  20  cwts.  of  bleaching  powder. 

If  we  take  the  lowest  cost  of  bleaching  powder  as  being 

£5,  10/  per  ton, 

and  compare  it  with  sulphur,  when 

36  cwts.  of  salt  yields  20  cwts.  of  sulphur, 

at  a  cost  of,  say  £3,  5/ 
we  have — 

Cost.  Prick. 

Bleaching  Powder,        .        £5  10         £7    0 
Sulphur,        ...  35  6  10 

Or,  for  each  one  ton  of  salt  decomposed,  the  profit  obtained  will  be — 
In  the  case  of  bleaching  powder, 

say  11/, 
while  in  the  case  of  sulphur  it  will  amount  to, 

say  36/, 

a  larger  profit  in  favour  of  the  manufacture  of  sulphur  to  the 

extent  of 

25/  per  ton  of  salt 

used  in  producing  the  acid  required  for  its  manufacture. 


Margin. 
£1  10 
3    5 


Mr.  Mactear  on  the  Regeneration  of  Sulphur.  43 

These  figures  will  of  course  be  modified  from  time  to  time  by  the 
market  price  of  the  articles,  and  also  by  their  comparative  costs. 

It  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the  manufacture  of  sulphur  by  this 
process  is  a  much  more  profitable  means  of  using  hydrochloric  acid 
than  is  the  manufacture  of  bleaching  powder,  and  I  am  of  opinion 
that  it  will  long  continue  so,  because,  in  the  first  place,  Sicilian 
sulphur  cannot  be  reduced  much  below  its  present  price  without 
shutting  up  some  of  the  mines,  and  reducing  considerably  the 
production  there;  and  secondly,  the  effect  of  the  Alkali  Acts  and 
recent  Royal  Commission  has  been  to  increase  the  manufacture  of 
bleaching  powder,  and  by  an  excess  of  production  over  demand,  to 
keep  the  price  at  a  point  at  which  it  is  no  longer  remunerative  to 
the  manufacturer. 

So  far  as  the  question  of  removal  of  nuisance  is  concerned,  this 
process  has  been  amply  successful  in  dealing  with  the  sulphide  of 
calcium  liquors  which  used  to  flow  into  the  Clyde  from  our  works ; 
and  on  the  last  occasion  on  which  a  complaint  of  smell  was  made, 
it  was  traced  to  the  escape  of  coal  gas,  which,  owing  to  some 
accident  at  the  City  Gasworks,  had  been  allowed  to  pass  into  the 
pipes  unpurified  for  some  little  time;  the  gas  escaped  into  the  sewer, 
and  a  series  of  complaints  of  the  frightful  nuisance  of  those  chemical 
works  was  the  result.  As  the  complaints  came  not  only  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  works  and  the  sewers  in  connection  therewith, 
but  also  from  the  other  side  of  the  river,  the  town  authorities 
traced  the  complaint  to  its  real  source,  and  exonerated  us  from  all 
blame  in  the  matter. 

3rd.  The  third  modification  of  this  process  is  intended  for  use 
when  the  liquors  are  very  weak  in  strength,  say  5°  to 
8°  Twaddell,  in  which  case  the  cost  of  fuel  becomes  much 
enhanced. 

It  consists  in  obtaining  a  stronger  solution  of  sul- 
phurous acid  by  the  production  of  a  bisulphite  of  lime, 
or  at  least  of  a  solution  of  sulphite  of  lime  in  sulphurous 
acid,  which  is  used  just  as  the  sulphurous  acid  solution 
in  the  second  modification  is  employed. 

As  the  old  waste  contains  large  quantities  of  sulphite 
of  lime,  it  is  utilised  in  this  modification  of  the  process 
by  grinding  it  in  water  to  a  milk,  and  treating  this  with 
sulphurous  acid ;  thus  obtaining  a  solution  of  sulphite  of 
lime  in  sulphurous  acid,  and  thus  reducing  considerably 
the  amount  of  sulphur  required  to  form  sulphurous 
acid. 


44  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

More  hydrochloric  acid  is  of  course  required  by  this 
method,  but  it  has  great  advantages  to  recommend  it. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  application  of  one  or  other  of  the 
modifications  of  the  "  Mactear  "  process  to  the  waste  drainage  from 
the  heaps  at  the  great  centres  of  the  alkali  trade,  such  as  Widnes 
and  St.  Helens,  would  reduce  veiy  greatly  the  nuisance  complained 
of  there. 

The  St.  Helens  manufacturers  have  recently  decided  not  to  put 
any  acid  drainage  into  the  celebrated  Sankey  Brook,  and  this  will 
lead  to  its  utilisation  in  one  way  or  another.  The  most  probable 
direction  for  it  to  take  is  that  of  the  manufacture  of  bleaching 
powder,  an  article  of  which  I  am  sorry  to  say  there  is  at  present  a 
very  great  over-production. 

Were,  for  instance,  a  combination  of  manufacturers  along  the 
course  of  the  Sankey  Brook  to  collect  the  drainage  liquors,  pump 
them  to  a  convenient  spot  (in  which  my  experience  of  nearly  ten 
years  shows  there  is  little  difficulty),  and  treat  them  with  the  acid 
of  either  one  or  various  works,  obtained  by  arrangement,  I  am  con- 
fident the  nuisance  complained  of  in  that  district  would  be  much 
reduced,  and  a  handsome  profit  realised  by  the  manufacturers. 


VI. — On  an  Improved  System  of  Alkali  Manufacture. 
By  James  Mactear,  F.C.S.,  London  and  Paris. 


[Read  before  the  Chemical  Section,  November  26,  1S77.J 


What  is  usually  called  the  "  Alkali  Manufacture "  is  in  reality  a 
group  of  chemical  processes,  constituting  by  far  the  most  important 
of  all  the  great  chemical  industries  of  the  day. 

Although  in  outline  the  process  is  well  described  in  most  text- 
books, it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  give  a  short  sketch  of  the  general 
scope  of  the  manufacture. 

We  may  leave  out  of  consideration  altogether  the  so-called  am- 
monia process,  which,  although  at  work  in  two  establishments  in 
England,  can  never  be  more  than  a  mere  fraction  of  the  whole 
manufacture,  unless  under  most  extraordinary  conditions  as 
regards  ammonia  and  common  salt. 


Mr.  Mactear  on  Alkali  Manufacture.  45 

The  group  of  processes  which  together  form  the  alkali  manufacture 
may  be  stated  thus  : — 

1st.  Production  of  sulphuric  acid. 

2nd.  Decomposition  of  common  salt  by  the  sulphuric  acid,  with 
the  production  of  sulphate  of  soda  and  hydrochloric  acid. 
3rcL  The  utilisation  of  the  hydrochloric  acid,  either  for  the 
manufacture  of  bleaching  powder,  chlorate  of  potash, 
bicarbonate   of  soda,  or  sulphur   (recovered  from  the 
waste  produced  in  the  final  process  of  the  alkali  manu- 
facture). 
4th.  The  conversion  of  the  sulphate  of  soda,  by  its  decompo- 
sition with  carbon  and  carbonate  of  lime,  into  carbonate 
of  soda  and  sulphide  of  calcium,  and  the  subsequent 
separation  of  these  two  compounds  by  lixiviation  with 
water. 
We  are  indebted  to  the  genius  and  skill  of  Leblanc  and  his  asso- 
ciate Diz6  for  the  combination  of  processes  we  now  employ ;  and, 
except  in  the  improved  construction  of  the  apparatus,  until  very 
recently  the  process  remained  identical  with  that  used  by  Leblanc 
and  his  followers   during  a  period   of  over  three   quarters  of  a 
century,  notwithstanding  the  constant  researches  of  chemists  and 
manufacturers. 

The  improvement  in  the  stages  of  the  manufacturing  of  sulphate 
of  soda  and  condensation  of  hydrochloric  acid,  as  well  as  those  of 
sulphuric  acid  and  bleaching  powder,  I  do  not  intend  to  enlarge 
upon,  proposing  to  confine  myself  to  the  production  of  alkali  from 
sulphate  of  soda. 

The  character  of  the  decomposition  which  takes  place  has  been 
studied  by  many  of  the  most  celebrated  chemists,  amongst  whom 
Liebig  gave  a  considerable  amount  of  attention  to  the  subject,  and 
invented  a  process  for  the  production  of  alkali,  which  is  not  gene- 
rally known;  it  was  based  on  the  decomposition  of  woody  fibre,  in  the 
form  of  sawdust,  by  sulphide  of  sodium,  and  he  thought  so  highly  of 
it  that  he  took  steps  to  protect  it  both  in  this  country  and  in  France 
by  a  patent — it,  however,  whilst  very  beautiful  as  a  theoretical 
process,  failed  completely  on  a  manufacturing  scale. 

The  theory  that  an  excess  of  lime  was  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
formation  of  an  insoluble  compound  of  calcium  and  sulphur  was  a 
favourite  one  for  many  years,  and  appears  in  many  forms,  the  varia- 
tions in  the  formulae  depending,  as  we  can  easily  see,  on  the  propor- 
tions of  carbonate  of  lime  used  in  the  decomposition.  This  theory 
was  dissipated  by  Gossage  and  others,  but  yet  it  was  always  found 


46  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

necessary  to  use  an  excess  of  limestone  over  that  which  their 
explanation  showed  to  be  necessary,  and  in  practice  there  was 
commonly  used  a  mixture  of — 

Sulphate  (commercial), ....       100 
Limestone,         .  .108 

Coal,      .  .  .  .  .  .  50  to  60 

The  only  change  of  any  magnitude  that  had  been  introduced  up 
to  the  year  1873  was  the  system  proposed  by  Messrs.  Stevenson  and 
Williamson,  of  the  Jarrow  Chemical  Works,  who,  having  adopted 
the  improved  form  of  furnace  (described  farther  on),  patented  the 
method  of  heating  the  limestone  and  a  portion  of  the  coal  for  some 
time,  so  as  to  produce  a  small  proportion  of  caustic  lime,  after  which 
the  sulphate  of  soda  and  the  remainder  of  the  coal  was  added,  and 
the  decomposition  then  finished  as  usual. 

The  introduction  of  the  furnace  originally  invented  by  Messrs. 
Elliott  <fe  Russell,  which  is  a  cylinder  of  iron  lined  with  brick,  and 
made  to  revolve  on  bearing  wheels,  was  a  great  advance,  but  the 
furnaces  being  of  small  size  and  defective  construction  at  first,  did 
not  succeed  as  was  expected.  From  time  to  time  this  class  of  fur- 
nace has  been  improved,  however,  and  from  the  small  one  originally 
erected,  which  worked  some  10  tons  per  day,  we  have  now  furnaces 
of  a  modified  form,  which  I  designed  in  1873,  working  50  tons  per 
day  with  ease.  This  great  increase  of  power  has  not,  however,  been 
attained  altogether  by  the  altered  construction  of  the  furnace,  but 
to  the  extent  of  at  least  one-third  by  the  adoption  of  the  improved 
system  of  manufacture  which  I  have  introduced,  and  which  I  now 
proceed  to  describe. 

Having  studied  carefully  the  various  theories  of  the  decomposi- 
tion taking  place  in  the  production  of  alkali,  I  became  clearly  of 
opinion,  that  the  use  of  more  than  an  equivalent  of  carbonate  of 
lime  was  perfectly  unnecessary,  in  so  far  as  the  decomposition  of  the 
sulphate  was  concerned. 

All  attempts  to  produce  alkali  to  advantage  on  this  basis  were 
quite  unsuccessful,  owing  to  the  great  insolubility  of  the  black 
ash  thus  produced.  The  decomposition  I  satisfied  myself  was  quite 
perfect,  however,  and  I  had  thus  the  problem  reduced  to  that  of  the 
lixiviation.  It  occurred  to  me  that,  if  by  any  simple  means  the 
black  ash  could  be  broken  up  while  exposed  to  the  water  used  in 
the  lixiviation,  this  difficulty  of  the  insolubility  of  the  black  ash 
would  be  got  over;  and  having  established  that  the  solubility  of  the 
black  ash  seemed  to  depend  very  much  on  the  amount  of  caustic 


Mr.  Mactear  on  Alkali  Manufacture.  47 

soda  existing  in  the  liquors,  and  this  again  in  the  excess  of  lime- 
stone used,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  caustic  lime  in  pieces 
were  distributed  through  the]  mass  of  black  ash,  this  in  slaking 
would  rend  the  balls  in  pieces,  and  allow  the  lixiviation  to  proceed 
satisfactorily.  Having  tried  this  on  the  large  scale,  I  found  it  suc- 
ceed perfectly,  and  the  improved  process  as  now  worked  is  based  on 
this  principle. 

It  is  conducted  thus  : — The  sulphate  of  soda,  with  a  quantity  of 
carbonate  of  lime  equal  to  as  nearly  as  possible  one  equivalent,  and 
a  proportion  of  coal  which  varies  a  little  with  the  quality  in  various 
districts,  is  placed  in  the  furnace,  which  is  made  to  revolve  rather 
slowly  at  first,  the  usual  melting  and  decomposition  of  the  sulphate 
takes  place,  and  when  all  the  sulphate  has  been  decomposed,  which 
is  known  by  various  signs,  the  furnace  is  stopped  and  a  quantity 
of  caustic  lime,  in  small  pieces,  is  dropped  in ;  the  furnace  is  then 
set  agoing  again,  and  the  lime  rapidly  mixed  through  the  charge, 
which  is  then  withdrawn  as  rapidly  as  possible.  It  is  sometimes 
necessary  to  add  with  the  lime  some  coal,  or  even  cinders,  in  order 
to  keep  the  ball  as  porous  as  possible.  This  depends  very  much  on 
the  quality  of  the  coal,  which  ought  to  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
leave  a  considerable  quantity  of  carbonaceous  matter  in  the  waste : 
this,  in  the  ordinary  system  of  working,  usually  amounts  to  about 
10  per  cent,  on  the  waste,  which  equals  about  20  per  cent,  on  the 
coal  used  in  the  mixture. 

By  the  use  of  ashes  or  cinders,  which  I  recommend,  there  is,  of 
course,  a  considerable  saving  in  coal. 

The  advantages  of  this  very  simply  conducted  process  are  very 
great. 

Firstly. — By  its  use  the  output  of  the  furnaces  has  been  increased 
from  50  to  70  per  cent. 

Secondly. — There  is  a  large  saving  in  limestone  and  coal. 

Thirdly. — There  is  a  much  reduced  quantity  of  waste. 

Fottrthly. — There  is  a  considerably  increased  yield  of  alkali  from 
a  given  quantity  of  sulphate  of  soda. 

(1.)  As  regards  the  increased  output  from  a  given  furnace,  this 
not  only  gives  greater  productive  power  to  the  plant, 
but  results  in  a  considerable  saving  of  wages — the  weight 
of  total  material  per  ton  of  sulphate  of  soda  used  being 
reduced  by  some  20  per  cent.,  it  naturally  follows  that  the 
weight  handled  being  less,  so  also  are  the  costs  of  labour. 
(2.)  The  limestone  in  excess  in  the  ordinary  process  of  Leblancy 
as  usually  worked,  gives  considerable  infusibility  to  the 


48  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

mass,  and  necessitates  greater  consumpt  of  coal  for  its 
fusion;  whereas  in  my  system  the  quantity  is  reduced  as 
low  as  possible,  and  the  fusibility  of  the  mixture  being 
much  increased,  there  results  a  considerable  saving  in 
fuel. 
(3.)  The  reduction  in  the  quantity  of  waste  (about  30  per  cent) 

is  of  advantage  in  various  ways. 
(a.)  The  quantity  being  less,  and  the  percentage  of  alkali  left 
after  lixiviation  being  no  more  than  on  the  old  system, 
there  is,  of  course,  a  gain  of  alkali,  estimated  at  about  1 J 
per  cent. 
(b.)  The  cost  of  removal  of  the  waste  and  its  deposit  is  the 
source  of  a  considerable  expense  to  manufacturers,  and  is, 
of  course,  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  weight  produced; 
so  that,  if  there  is  30  per  cent,  less  waste  produced,  there 
ought  to  be  30  per  cent,  of  the  cost  of  removal  saved, 
(c.)  As  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  production  of  sulphur  from 
alkali  waste  will  before  long  form  one  of  the  regular 
processes  of  an  alkali  work,  owing  to  the  necessity  of 
condensing  and  utilising  all  the  muriatic  acid,  for  which 
there  is  at  present  only,  it  may  be  said,  an  outlet  in  the 
manufacture  of  bleaching  powder,  it  is  clearly  of  great 
advantage  to  have  the  waste  in  a  form  in  which  there  is 
as  little  as  possible  of  useless  material,  such  as  carbonate 
of  lime,  and  which   may  therefore  be  the  more  easily 
dealt  with  in  the  way  of  oxidation,  &c 
(4.)  The  reduced  quantity  of  waste  also  gives,  as  above,  an 
increase  in  yield  of  alkali ;  but  beyond  this  there  is  also 
the  fact  that  better  decomposition  of  the  sulphate  of  soda 
is  obtained,  as  might  be  expected,  from  the  greater  fusi- 
bility, and  therefore  liquidity,  of  the  molten  mass,  which 
renders  the  agitation  and  mixture  more  complete. 
This  process  has  now  been  in  use  for  some  years  at  the  works  of 
my  firm  (Messrs.   Charles   Tennant  &   Co.),   and  has  also  been 
adopted  with  marked  benefit  by  various  large  manufacturers  both  in 
this  country  and  in  France. 

The  amount  of  saving  stated  in  money  varies  with  the  costs  of 
raw  material  and  labour,  but  may  be  said  to  range  from  five  shillings 
to  ten  shillings  per  ton  of  soda  ash,  calculated  as  containing  48  per 
cent  of  alkali. 


Mr.  J.  Barlow  on  tU  Contraction  of  Muscle.  49 


VII. — Observations  on  the  Contraction  of  Muscle  on  Stimulation  of 
Nerve.  By  John  Barlow,  M.B.,  M.R.C.S.E.,  Muirhead 
Demonstrator  of  Physiology,  University  of  Glasgow. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  February  20,  1878.] 

The  essayist  directed  attention  more  especially  to  the  stimulation 
of  nerve  by  a  constant  galvanic  current  of  electricity. 

He  showed  that  at  the  moment  of  sending  the  electrical  current 
through  the  nerve,  and  at  the  moment  of  breaking  the  current,  the 
muscle,  to  which  the  nerve  was  attached,  contracted.  Attention 
was  directed  to  the  fact  that  during  the  passage  of  the  constant 
current  the  muscle  did  not  contract.  Evidence  was  given  showing 
that  the  current  of  electricity  did  not  pass  down  the  nerve  to  the 
muscle  and  stimulate  the  muscle  to  contract,  but  that  the  current  of 
electricity  had  excited  some  change  of  a  molecular  nature,  and  that 
this  change,  travelling  along  the  nerve  at  a  rate  of  from  100  to  200' 
feet  per  second,  excited  the  muscular  contraction. 

The  only  change  observed  in  the  properties  of  the  nerve  during 
the  passage  of  this  wave  (the  nerve  influence  or  current)  is  a  change* 
in  the  electrical  condition  of  the  nerve.  Corresponding  in  time  of 
appearance  and  in  rapidity  of  movement  with  the  nerve  current, 
there  is  found  to  be  a  diminution  or  negative  variation  of  the 
current  of  electricity  which  is  normally  present  in  the  quiescent 
condition. 

During  the  passage  of  a  constant  current  through  the  nerve, 
changes  occur  in  the  properties  of  the  nerve,  but  there  is  no  nerve 
influence  generated.  Changes  are  observed  in  the  excitability,  in 
the  conductivity,  and  in  the  electro-motive  force  of  the  nerve. 
The  excitability  and  conductivity  of  the  nerve  are  increased  in 
the  portion  of  nerve  near  the  negative  pole  or  cathode,  and  they  are 
diminished  in  the  portion  of  nerve  near  the  anode.  The  method 
of  showing  this  alteration  in  the  excitability  and  conductivity  of  the 
nerve  was  demonstrated  and  explained,  and  tracings  obtained  by  the 
graphic  method  were  exhibited.  The  electro-motive  force  is  dimin- 
ished in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  cathode,  and  increased  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  anode. 

Vol.  XI.—  No.  1.  * 


50  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Attention  was  directed  to  the  different  results  which  had  been 
observed  on  stimulating  nerve  with  a  constant  current.  Hitter  and 
Nobili,  the  first  observers,  thought  that  the  different  results  depended 
upon  the  vitality  of  the  nerve.  They  said  also  that  if  a  constant 
current  was  sent  along  a  nerve  in  a  direction  upwards,  or  away  from 
the  muscle,  the  strongest  contraction,  and  perhaps  the  only  one, 
would  be  that  following  the  breaking  of  the  current ;  whereas  if 
the  current  be  sent  down  the  nerve,  the  strongest  contraction  would 
be  the  one  following  the  closing  of  the  circuit.  These  were  spoken 
of  as  the  opening  and  closing  contractions. 

Pfliiger,  after  experimenting  upon  the  point,  concluded  that  the 
contractions  produced  by  stimulation  of  a  fresh  nerve  depended 
upon  the  strength  and  direction  of  the  current.  He  found  that 
when  he  stimulated  the  nerve  with  a  weak  constant  current,  he 
obtained  a  closing  contraction,  and  no  opening  contraction,  and  this 
occurred  whether  the  current  was  sent  up  or  down  the  nerve. 
With  a  stronger  current  sent  up  and  down  the  nerve  he  obtained  :i 
closing  and  opening  contraction.  With  a  very  strong  current  sent 
up  the  nerve  he  obtained  a  contraction  on  opening,  and  none  upon 
closing  the  current ;  but  with  the  current  sent  down  the  nerve 
he  obtained  a  closing  contraction  only.  Hitter,  Heidenhain,  and 
Wundt  obtained,  with  a  weak  descending  current,  a  contraction 
upon  opening  and  none  upon  closing   the  current. 

In  repeating  these  experiments,  the  essayist  employed  Marey's 
myograph,  by  means  of  which  he  was  able  to  observe,  very  easily, 
differences  in  the  amount  of  contraction  produced.  He  employed 
as  a  very  weak  current  a  Grove's  element,  and  introduced  resis- 
tance [into  the  circuit.  The  resistance  employed  was  a  long 
glass  tube  filled  with  distilled  water.  The  ends  of  two  wires 
were  passed  through  the  corks  which  closed  the  ends  of  the 
tube,  and  by  approximating  the  ends  of  the  wires  the  amount  of 
resistance  to  be  overcome  by  the  current  could  be  diminished.  He 
found  that  when  the  ends  of  the  wires  were  separated  from  each 
other  by  15  inches  of  water,  that  a  current  was  obtained  of  suffi- 
cient strength  to  stimulate  the  nerve.  If  care  was  taken  in  prepar- 
ing the  nerve,  the  closing  contraction  only  was  produced  by  such 
stimulation.  The  amount  of  resistance  offered  by  15  inches  of  water 
equals  1,500,000  Ohms.  Tracings  were  exhibited  which  showed 
results  which  were  in  accordance  with  those  of  Pfliiger.  In  con- 
clusion, the  law  of  contraction,  which  Pfliiger  formulated  from  the 
results  which  he  observed,  was  mentioned  and  explained.  Cyon's 
modification  of  the  law  was  also  given.     The  essayist  was  of  opinion 


Dk.  J.  Doug  all  on  the  Disinfection  of  Enteric  Excreta.      51 

that  if  the  nerve  was  protected  from  irritation  during  preparation, 
and  if  care  was  taken  to  regulate  the  amount  of  electricity,  that  no 
great  difficulty  would  be  experienced  in  obtaining  Pfltiger's  results  ; 
and  he  was  also  of  opinion  that  the  law  of  contraction,  as  proposed 
by  Pfluger  and  modified  by  Cyon,  was  the  best  explanation  which  we 
at  present  possess  of  the  different  results  observed  on  stimulating  a 
nerve  with  a  constant  galvanic  current. 


VIII. — An  Experiment  on  the  Disinfection  of  Enteric  Excreta.  By 
John  Douoall,  M.D.,  F.F.P.S.G.,  Lecturer  on  Materia 
Medica  in  the  Glasgow  Royal  Infirmary  School  of  Medicine. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  February  20,  187a] 


Iw  the  sixth  Public  Health  Report  of  the  Medical  Officer  of  the 
Privy  Council  for  1875  is  an  extremely  able  account  by  Dr.  Baxter 
of  an  experimental  study  of  certain  disinfectants.  Mr.  Simon  in 
his  preface  states  that  the  investigation  was  carefully  planned  by 
Dr.  Baxter  and  Dr.  Burdon  Sanderson.  It  may  be  mentioned  that 
in  these  experiments  three  infective  poisons,  viz.,  that  of  glanders, 
that  of  vaccine,  and  that  of  intensified  or  infective  inflammation, 
were  submitted  to  the  action  of  four  alleged  disinfectants,  viz.,  per- 
manganate of  potash,  sulphurous  acid,  chlorine,  and  carbolic  acid. 

At  the  end  of  the  Report  the  principal  inferences  which  seemed 
to  flow  from  the  results  of  the  investigation  are  embodied  in  a  series 
of  eleven  propositions.  In  the  fourth  proposition  it  is  stated  that 
"  when  permanganate  of  potash  is  used  to  disinfect  a  virulent  liquid 
containing  much  organic  matter,  or  any  compounds  capable  of 
decomposing  the  permanganate,  there  is  no  security  for  the  effectual 
fulfilment  of  disinfection  short  of  the  presence  of  undecomposed 
permanganate  in  the  liquid  after  all  chemical  action  has  had  time 
to  subside." 

As  this  conclusion,  which  is  founded  on  a  great  number  of  very 
interesting  experiments,  seemed  a  safe  basis  for  testing  further,  in 
an  easy  and  very  practical  manner,  the  disinfecting  power  of  the 
permanganate,  I  resolved  to  try,  in  the  form  of  Condy's  fluid,  its 


52  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

strength  with  enteric  excreta,  this  fluid  being  the  state  in  which 
the  permanganate  is  almost  exclusively  used  by  the  public  The 
experiment  was  conducted  as  follows  : — To  a  newly  passed  charac- 
teristic ochry-looking  enteric  stool,  quantity  unknown,  a  portion 
of  a  known  quantity  of  Condy's  fluid  was  added.  The  mixture  was 
then  stirred  and  set  aside  for  a  short  time,  and  when  the  pink  colour 
had  changed  to  a  brown,  more  of  the  fluid  was  added  and  the  pro- 
cess repeated,  till  the  pink  colour  was  found  permanent  after  the 
lapse  of  twelve  hours.  In  other  words,  chemical  action  in  the  mix- 
ture had  subsided,  as  indicated  by  the  presence  of  the  undecomposed 
pinkish  permanganate  liquid.  The  mixture  was  now  measured,  and 
the  quantity  of  Condy's  fluid  used  being  known,  this  was  subtracted 
from  the  whole,  thus  showing  the  amount  of  faecal  matter  acted 
on.  To  find  the  exact  relation  between  the  quantity  of  Condy's 
fluid  deoxidised  and  the  amount  of  enteric  faeces  disinfected  was 
now  a  simple  matter  of  calculation. 

Avoiding  fractions,  it  amounted  to  this  (and  I  confess  the  result 
astonished  me),  one  ounce  of  the  enteric  faeces  had  deoxidised  not 
less  than  ten  ounces  of  Condy's  fluid ;  in  other  words,  there  is  no 
security  that  enteric  faecal  matter  is  effectually  disinfected  by 
( 'ondy's  fluid,  except  the  bulk  of  the  fluid  used  is  ten  times  as  great 
as  the  bulk  of  the  enteric  faeces  to  be  disinfected. 

In  the  same  manner  I  experimented  with  a  fluid  ounce  of 
enteric  urine,  and  here  the  result  was,  that  one  ounce  of  the  urine 
deoxidised  at  least  two  ounces  of  the  Condy's  fluid. 

Now,  supposing  a  typhoid  patient  passing  12  ounces  of  faecal 
matter  and  20  ounces  of  urine  during  each  24  hours,  say  for  a  week, 
which  it  will  be  conceded  are  not  excessive  quantities,  and  suppos- 
ing the  Condy's  fluid  sold  to  the  public  in  8  ounce  bottles  at  Is.  each 
is  used,  it  follows  that  280  ounces  of  Condy's  fluid  are  required  to 
oxidise  or  disinfect  the  week's  urine,  which  at  Is.  per  8  ounces 
amounts  to  £1,  15s.,  and  that  840  ounces  are  required  to  oxidise  or 
disinfect  the  week's  faeces,  which  at  Is.  per  8  ounces  amounts  to 
£5,  5s.,  in  all  £7  per  week,  or  at  the  rate  of  £364  per  annum. 
Now,  supposing  an  hospital  with  thirty  enteric  patients  on  an  average 
constantly  under  treatment,  on  these  data  it  would  take  £10,920 
worth  of  Condy's  fluid  to  disinfect  their  yearly  excretions. 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  53 


IX. — Physical  Life.  By  Andrew  Buchanan,  M.D.,  President  of 
the  Faculty  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Glasgow,  and  one 
of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Glasgow  Philosophical  Society. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  March  20,  1878.] 


The  paper  which  I  now  beg  respectfully  to  submit  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  Society  is  Part  I.  of  a  more  extended  memoir,  bearing 
the  title  "  On  the  Nature,  Origin,  and  Termination  of  Life,  and  the 
Perpetuation  of  it  by  the  Process  of  Generation." 

A  nice  critic  might  object  to  the  title  now  read  as  illogical,  inas- 
much as  the  first  term  (nature)  contains  implicitly  the  two  subsequent 
terms  (origin  and  termination).  Whoever  understands  the  process 
for  making  muriatic  acid  from  common  salt  and  sulphuric  acid,  under- 
stands also,  necessarily,  how  and  for  what  reason  the  process  begins, 
and  how  and  for  what  reason  it  comes  to  an  end.  It  is  the  same 
with  every  other  process,  whether  simple  or  complicated,  of  which 
the  nature  is  fully  understood ;  and  the  employment  of  the  whole 
three  terms,  with  respect  to  the  process  of  life,  must  be  regarded  as 
a  tacit  admission  that  while  we  understand  sufficiently  the  nature  of 
certain  parts  in  the  middle  of  that  process,  there  are  other  parts  of 
it  of  which  our  knowledge  is  much  less  satisfactory,  and  that  these 
relate  to  the  initiation  and  termination  of  life,  and  the  marvellous 
perpetuation  of  it,  by  a  physiological  process,  from  one  generation  to 
another. 

It  is  impossible,  according  to  my  view,  to  form  an  adequate  idea 
of  Life,  or  give  any  intelligible  definition  of  it,  without  regarding 
it  under  the  two  distinct  forms  of  Physical  Life  and  Conscious  Life. 
It  has  been  from  overlooking  this  distinction,  and  endeavouring  to 
grasp,  by  a  single  act  of  the  mind,  two  separate  subjects,  as  if  they 
were  one  and  the  same,  that  there  has  been  so  much  obscurity  and 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  nature  of  the  processes  which  con- 
stitute life.  Physical  life  rests  entirely  upon  the  principles  of 
physics,  and,  as  will  be  shown  farther  on,  primarily  and  mainly 
throughout  on  the  principles  of  chemistry.  It  is  this  form  of  life 
which  is  to  be  the  subject  submitted  for  your  consideration  this 
evening.     But  you  will  understand  it  better  if  I  do  not  merely  tell 


54  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

you  what  vital  actions  are  included  in  it,  but  also  those  which  are 
excluded  from  it,  and  that  cannot  be  better  done  than  by  explain- 
ing to  you,  beforehand,  what  I  understand  by  conscious  life. 

Conscious  life  co-exists  with  and  is  in  harmonious  adaptation  to 
physical  life.  It  implies  the  presence  in  the  conscious  organism  of 
the  principle  we  name  " mind"  which  makes  it  aware  of  its  own 
existence,  of  its  identity  at  successive  periods  of  development,  and 
of  its  action  and  passion  in  moving,  willing,  feeling,  perceiving,  and 
thinking. 

According  to  my  views,  the  two  elements  which  taken  together 
constitute  the  living  organism  of  man,  are  capable  of  acting  inde- 
pendently of  each  other,  and  in  co-operation  with  each  other. 
When  I  demonstrate  that  the  three  angles  of  every  triangle  are 
equal  to  two  right  angles,  or  that  in  a  right-angled  triangle  the 
square  upon  the  side  subtending  the  right  angle  is  equal  to  the 
sum  of  the  squares  upon  the  other  two  sides,  I  perform  a  purely 
mental  act  with  which  the  matter  of  my  body  has  nothing  to  do 
whatsoever.  In  the  same  way,  the  mind  thinks  by  its  own  energy 
alone  when  I  speculate  on  what  is  true  in  any  other  department 
of  human  thought,  or  when  I  sympathise  with  a  good  or  noble 
action,  or  admire  what  is  beautiful  in  nature  or  in  art.  When, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  four  cardinal  elements  combine  together 
within  my  body  to  form  urea  or  uric  acid,  or  when  oxygen  com- 
bines with  hydrogen  or  with  carbon  to  form  water  or  carbonic  acid, 
my  mind  is  unconscious  of  and  takes  no  share  in  any  such  process. 
But  both  mind  and  body  are  called  into  action,  and  co-operate 
harmoniously,  when  I  examine  objects  attentively  with  my  eyes 
or  the  points  of  my  fingers,  or  when  I  raise  my  arm  or  perform 
any  other  muscular  act  in  obedience  to  my  will :  and  in  both  cases 
the  nervous  system  is  the  medium  of  communication  between 
the  conscious  mind  and  the  material  bodily  organs ;  transmitting 
impulses  in  the  former  case  from  the  periphery  to  the  centre, 
and  in  the  latter  from  the  centre  to  the  periphery. 

Conscious  life  belongs  only  to  the  higher  organisms,  and  to  them 
only  on  their  attaining  to  tho  state  of  independent  existence.  It 
has  a  close  relationship  to  tho  oxidative  processes  from  which,  in  the 
language  of  the  present  day,  all  energy  proceeds;  by  which  is  meant 
that  they  constitute  the  mainspring  of  those  active  powers  of  the 
body  which  it  is  one  of  the  chief  offices  of  the  mind  to  direct  and  con- 
trol In  man — and  it  is  only  in  ourselves  that  consciousness  can 
be  thoroughly  understood — it  first  shows  itself  immediately  after 
birth,  on  the  establishment  of  the  function  of  respiration ;  of  the  two 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  55 

actions  constituting  which  we  are  never-failingly  conscious  so  long 
as  we  draw  "  the  breath  of  life,"  or  till  our  "  last  breath,"  or  accord- 
ing  to  innumerable  other  expressions  to  be  found  in  all  languages 
denoting  the  inseparable  connection  universally  recognised  between 
conscious  life  and  the  act  of  breathing.  Previous  to  the  establish- 
ment of  respiration  it  would  be  difficult  to  show  that  there  is  in  the 
foetus  or  the  newly-born  child  either  sensation  or  volition,  and  that 
the  few  movements  performed  by  them  are  not  either  automatic, 
like  those  of  the  heart,  or  the  effect  of  reflex  nervous  action,  like 
those  of  the  limbs.  Moreover,  when  their  life  is  destroyed,  it  is  like 
the  mere  passive  cessation  of  a  physical  process  from  derangement 
of  mechanism  or  failure  of  motive  power ;  whereas,  no  sooner  has 
respiration  been  established,  than  the  young  animal  feels  acutely 
every  interruption  of  its  breathing,  and  struggles  vigorously  to 
retain  its  life. 

It  may  be  argued  from  analogy  that  in  all  probability  the  com- 
mencement of  conscious  life  in  all  air-breathing  animals  is  the  same 
as  in  man;  while  in  animals  lower  in  the  zoological  scale  the 
inquiry  is  beset  with  much  greater  difficulty.* 

Physical  life  is  so  named  because  it  rests  entirely  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  physics,  and  more  especially  upon  those  physical  principles 
which  we  name  chemical,  as  we  see  them  displayed  by  the  eighteen 
simple  substances  that  enter  into  the  composition  of  living  bodies, 
and  which  exist  also  in  inorganic  nature,  from  which  source  all  the 
constituents  of  living  bodies  are  directly  or  indirectly  derived. 

I  subjoin  a  tabular  view  of  the  elementary  chemical  substances 
out  of  which  living  bodies  or  organisms  are  formed.  They  are 
divided  into  two  classes,  cardinal  elements  and  complementary 
elements.  The  cardinal  elements  are  four  in  number,  the  comple- 
mentary fourteen;  but  the  former  are  quantitatively  far  more 
abundant  than  the  complementary,  being  usually  in  the  proportion 
of  about  50  to  1,  or  98  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  They  derive  their 
name  from  their  being,  as  it  were,  the  hinge  on  which  the  whole 
vital  fabric  turns.  The  complementary  elements,  however,  are  not 
less  essential  to  living  matter,  which  would  be  incomplete  without 
them,  and  they  are  named  "  complementary  "  from  their  being  like 
the  complement  of  an  angle  which  is  necessary  to  make  up  a  right 
angle.  They  are  divided  into  those  which  become  acids  with  oxygen, 
or  with  hydrogen ;  and  those  which  more  readily  assume  the  form 
of  bases. 

*  These  paragraphs  belong  properly  to  the  second  part  of  this  memoir,  but 
they  are  here  inserted  for  the  sake  of  greater  distinctness. 


56  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Elements  of  Organic  Bodies. 
I.  Cardinal  Elements.  II.  Complementary  Elements. 


Acidifiable. 

Batifiabk. 

£  Phosphorus. 

Calcium. 

CARBON. 

Oxyacids  J  Sulphur. 

Sodium. 

HYDROGEN. 

(  Silicon. 

Potassium. 

OXYGEN. 

f  Chlorine. 

Iron. 

NITROGEN. 

„    .      . ,    1  Fluorine. 
Hydracd.  j  ^.^ 

Manganese. 
Magnesium. 

[  Bromine. 

Aluminum. 

It  is  upon  the  chemical  properties  and  actions  of  the  eighteen 
simple  elements  just  enumerated  that  physical  life  immediately 
depends.  It  comprises  the  two  parts  of  formative  and  oxidative 
life.  By  the  former  the  germ  is  formed  and  the  organism  developed, 
while  by  the  latter  the  organism  is  decomposed  for  the  purpose  of 
educing  its  higher  physical  powers. 

By  their  combinations  and  recombinations,  the  simple  elements 
form  the  numerous  more  complex  substances  to  which  we  give  the 
name  of  proximate  organic  elements,  and  out  of  these  the  various 
tissues  and  humours  are  made  up  which  constitute  the  entire 
organism.  It  is  owing  to  the  vast  multitude  of  such  organic  com- 
pounds that  there  is  an  equally  vast  number  of  organic  forms ;  for 
just  as  the  various  kinds  of  inorganic  matter  affect,  each  as  soon  as 
constituted,  their  own  crystalline  forms,  so  do  the  still  more  various 
kinds  of  organic  matter  assume,  as  soon  as  they  are  produced, 
their  proper  morphological  characters  of  shape  and  arrangement 
of  parts.  Still  further,  the  structures  so  produced  have  neces- 
sarily their  peculiar  mechanical  and  other  physical  properties,  and 
corresponding  action  on  the  bodies  around  them.  Last  of  all,  the 
chemical  actions  that  are  continually  going  on  within  the  organism 
so  long  as  life  continues  form  the  groundwork  of  all  its  higher 
physical  attributes,  such  as  heat  and  cold,  nervous  power  and 
muscular  contraction;  just  as  we  see  the  chemical  action  of  muriatic 
acid  upon  zinc  exhibit  itself  in  the  form  of  heat,  light,  electricity,  or 
magnetism,  according  to  the  structure  of  the  physical  apparatus 
through  which  it  manifests  its  power. 

It  is  thus  manifest  that  the  whole  phenomena  of  life,  apart  from 
consciousness,  come  fairly  within  the  range  of  physical  science,  and 
that  all  the  actions  of  life  have  exact  parallels  in  the  actions  going 
on  among  inorganic  bodies.  It  is  also  manifest,  from  what  has  been 
said  above,  that  physical  life  in  its  two  great  divisions  of  formative 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  57 

and  oxidative  life,  consists  primarily  and  mainly  in  chemical  actions ; 
and  the  question  at  once  arises,  whether  physiologists  have  succeeded 
in  discovering  what  the  chemical  actions  are  in  which  physical 
life  essentially  consists. 

I  give  two  answers  in  reply.  The  first  will,  I  believe,  be  very 
generally  admitted  by  physiologists  to  be  correct  so  far  as  it  goes, 
but  it  is  not  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  include  the  whole  pheno- 
mena of  physical  life.  I  bring  it  forward,  however,  for  two  reasons : 
the  first  is,  that  it  is  a  complete  answer  to  the  question,  In  what 
consists  the  physical  life  of  the  organism?  and  gives  a  concise  and 
accurate  view,  so  far  as  it  goes,  of  the  chemical  actions  of  life ;  the 
second  is,  that  it  is  useful  by  its  very  deficiencies,  and  suggestive  of 
a  truer  answer. 

I.  My  first  answer,  then,  is  this  :  The  physical  life  of  every 
organism,  at  whatever  stage  of  its  development  we  contemplate  it, 
consists  in  a  mutual  exchange  of  chemical  elements  between  the 
organism  and  the  ambient  medium,  denoting  by  the  former  term 
the  material  substances  of  which  the  living  body  is  made  up  at  the 
time  of  observation,  and  by  the  latter  the  material  substances 
which  surround  the  body  at  all  times,  or  which  come  into  contact 
with  it  from  time  to  time,  and  so  enter  with  it  into  those  mutual 
actions  which  constitute  physical  life,  and  occasion  those  normal 
changes  upon  the  composition  and  form  of  the  body  which  we  name 
its  development. 

The  easiest  mode  of  forming  an  adequate  conception  of  physical 
life,  as  above  defined,  is  to  study  the  actions  that  take  place  in  the 
human  body  in  the  adult  state.  This  arises  from  two  causes  :  first, 
from  the  actions  of  the  human  body  having  been  much  more  care- 
fully studied  and  better  understood  than  those  of  any  other  living 
organism;  and  still  more,  because  for  many  years  after  man  arrives 
at  maturity  the  weight  of  his  body  from  day  to  day  undergoes  no 
perceptible  change  in  normal  circumstances,  from  which  it  follows 
that  the  exchange  of  chemical  elements  between  the  organism  and 
the  ambient  medium  must  be  equal  in  each  period  of  twenty-four 
hours,  and  that,  therefore,  a  diurnal  balance  can  be  made  of  the 
assumpta  and  the  excreta — that  is,  of  the  chemical  elements  that  are 
every  day  introduced  into  the  body,  and  those  that  are  every  day 
thrown  off  from  it.  This  has  always  been  to  me  the  most  interest- 
ing part  of  physiology,  because  it  is  that  which  has  most  completely 
assumed  the  scientific  form,  and  it  was  always  a  pleasure  to  me  in 
lecturing  upon  physiology  to  discuss  this  part  of  it  at  full  length. 
But  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  introduced  in  this  place  is  quite  dif- 


58  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

ferent,  and  will  be  sufficiently  fulfilled  by  giving  a  tabular  view  of 
the  daily  assumpts  and  excretions  of  the  adult  human  body,  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  how  exactly  they  correspond. 


Daily  Balance  of  the  Assumpta  and  Excreta  in 

Adult  Life. 

ASSUMPTA.  EXCRETA. 

Oz.  Av.  i  Sensible— 


Solid, 40 

liquid, 56 

Gaseous, 22 

118 


Renal,  . 
Alvine,  . 
Exuvial, 

Insensible — 
Lungs. 


Anhydrous  solids,  16 

Water, 80     i         COa, 

Oxygen, 22  OH2, 


118 

Cardinal  elements,     .  .16 

Complementary  elements, .   0*25-  *5 

Water, 80 

Absorbed  oxygen,  .        .22 


Skin, 
OH2,   . 


Ok.  At. 

• 

45*5 

• 

4*5 

• 

•5 

60-5 

27- 

12-7 

397 

• 

27-8 

67*5 

US 


A  table  of  this  kind,  exhibiting,  in  a  general  way,  what  are 
the  substances  introduced  daily  into  the  human  body,  and  under 
what  forms,  and  through  what  channels  they  are  thereafter 
expelled,  gives  a  lively  idea  of  the  amount  of  chemical  work  daily 
performed  within  the  living  body,  and  how  broad  a  basis  is  thus 
laid  for  the  higher  physical  actions  of  the  organism  dependent  on 
that  work.  A  still  more  complete  view  of  the  subject,  however,  is 
obtained  from  similar  tables,  exhibiting  a  special  balance  of  each 
of  the  four  cardinal  elements,  C,  H,  O,  and  N ;  of  the  complementary 
elements;  and  of  water,  the  last  of  which  exhibits  the  remarkable 
peculiarity  that  there  are  about  eight  ounces  more  of  water  dis- 
charged daily  from  the  body  than  have  been  directly  introduced 
into  it,  which  shows  that  quantity  of  water  to  be  daily  formed 
within  the  body  by  the  union  of  O  and  H. 

One  subject,  however,  requires  explanation.  I  mean  the  very  large 
estimate  that  has  been  made  of  the  insensible  excretions,  much 
greater  than  the  most  trustworthy  experiments  warrant,  and  in 
opposition  to  the  rule  established  by  Sanctorius,  and  since  followed 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  assuming  the  amount  of  the 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  59 

insensible  excretions  in  twenty-four  hours  to  be  equal  to  the  differ- 
ence between  the  ingesta  and  the  sensible  excretions.  This  forms  a 
curious  chapter  in  the  history  of  physiology. 

I  may  be  allowed  to  explain  to  those  members  of  our  Society  who 
hare  not  studied  physiology  systematically,  that  by  "  ingesta "  we 
mean  meat  and  drink :  and  that  under  the  name  of  insensible  excre- 
tions we  include  the  discharges  from  the  skin  and  lungs :  which  are 
called  "insensible,"  because  they  cannot  be  directly  weighed  or 
measured,  but  must  be  deduced  from  the  weight  of  the  body  itself, 
varying  at  successive  periods  of  observation ;  and  which  from  their 
being  in  the  gaseous  form,  or  in  that  of  vapour,  are  usually  denomi- 
nated the  "  insensible  perspiration." 

The  discovery  of  the  Insensible  Perspiration  is  one  of  the  most 
important  ever  made  in  Medicine,  and  completely  'disproves  the 
self-complacent  assertions  of  those  who  at  the  present  day  assume 
themselves  to  have  been  the  first  who  ever  employed  the  accurate 
standard  of  the  Balance  in  physiological  investigations.  The  dis- 
covery was  made  by  Sanctorius,  a  physician  of  Venice,  who 
flourished  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeeth  century.  He  devoted 
his  whole  after  life  to  perfecting  this  discovery,  spending  his  time 
poised  in  a  chair  which  told  exactly  the  weight  of  his  body,  while 
he  ascertained  accurately  the  weight  of  everything  he  introduced 
into  his  body,  or  that  came  off  from  it  in  a  sensible  form.  These 
experiments  attracted  universal  attention,  and  were  repeated  emu- 
lously  by  physicians  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe ;  and  such  a  degree 
of  popularity  did  they  acquire  as  to  become  a  favourite  amusement 
of  amaleurs — as,  for  instance,  of  our  own  King  Charles  II.,  who  had  a 
suitable  apparatus  constructed,  and  performed  experiments  upon  his 
royal  person,  the  results  of  some  of  which  have  been  recorded. 

The  rule  for  finding  the  insensible  perspiration  during  any  given 
time  was  as  follows  : — Weigh  the  body  at  the  beginning  and  at  the 
end  of  (the  time,  taking  care  to  add  to  the  former  weight  whatever 
may  have  been  supplied  to  the  body  during  the  interval,  and  to  add 
whatever  may  have  been  given  off  from  it  to  the  latter  weight.  The 
difference  between  the  two  weights  so  adjusted  is  the  amount  of  the 
insensible  perspiration :  and  when  the  weight  of  the  body  undergoes 
no  change,  the  insensible  perspiration  is  equal,  as  above  stated,  to 
the  difference  between  the  ingesta  and  the  sensible  excretions. 

Applying  the  above  rule  to  the  numbers  in  our  own  table,  what 
ought  to  be  the  amount  of  the  insensible  perspiration  in  twenty-four 
hours.  The  solid  and  liquid  ingesta  amount  to  96  oz.,  and  the 
sensible  excretions  to  50*5,  and  the  difference  between  them  is  45*5, 


60  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

■which  ought  to  be  the  amount  of  the  insensible  perspiration.  Why 
then  have  I  added  22  oz.,  and  raised  the  amount  of  the  insensible 
perspiration  to  67*5  oz.  ?  For  the  very  sufficient  reason  that  it  is 
now  well  known  that  we  take  into  our  bodies  daily,  not  only  96  oz. 
of  solids  and  liquids,  but  also  22  oz.  of  oxygen  gas;  and  that  a  pound 
of  oxygen  tells  upon  the  balance  exactly  in  the  same  way  as  a  pound 
of  water,  or  a  pound  of  roast  beef  and  potatoes.  For  this  reason  I 
have  been  for  many  years  in  the  habit  of  making  my  students 
distinguish  between  what  I  named  the  "Sanctorian  insensible 
perspiration,"  estimated  in  the  usual  way,  and  the  "  true  insensible 
perspiration,"  estimated  with  the  addition  of  oxygen. 

It  is  clear  that  the  sagacious  old  Venetian,  who  lived  more  than 
150  years  before  oxygen  gas  was  ever  heard  of,  was  in  no  way  to 
blame  for  the  error  in  his  estimates;  nor  any  of  the  numerous  ex- 
perimenters who  lived  before  the  year  1780,  when  Lavoisier  proved 
that  the  process  of  respiration  consists  essentially  in  the  absorption  of 
oxygen  and  the  emission  of  carbonic  acid.  It  is  remarkable,  how- 
ever, that  Lavoisier  did  not  foresee  the  consequences  of  his  own  dis- 
covery ;  for  in  his  numerous  experiments  on  the  insensible  perspira- 
tion he  estimates  it  in  the  old  way  :  and  it  is  still  more  remarkable, 
that  Mr.  Dalton,  the  celebrated  author  of  the  atomic  theory,  should 
have  done  the  same  in  three  sets  of  experiments  which  he  made  on 
himself,  chiefly  with  the  view  of  showing  that  the  carbon  contained 
in  the  food  he  made  use  of  was  eliminated  chiefly  as  carbonic  acid 
from  his  lungs. 

Still  no  suspicion  seems  to  have  been  entertained  of  the  error 
involved  in  the  experiments  of  Sanctorius  and  his  followers,  arising 
from  the  indirect  method  in  which  they  estimated  the  insensible  per- 
spiration, without  taking  the  absorbed  oxygen  into  account.  It  was 
first  clearly  shown,  by  the  experiments  made  to  determine  what 
part  of  the  insensible  discharge  came  from  the  skin  and  what  from 
the  lungs,  and  the  opposing  results  obtained,  according  as  the  one 
or  other  of  them  was  weighed  directly,  or  estimated  from  the 
weight  of  the  body.  In  the  beautiful  experiments  of  Lavoisier  and 
Seguin,  in  which  the  discharge  from  the  skin  was  directly  weighed 
and  that  from  the  lungs  calculated ;  they  found  that  out  of  a  total 
amount  of  18  grs.  per  minute  of  insensible  perspiration,  11  came 
from  the  skin,  and  only  7  from  the  lungs.  But  no  sooner  was  che- 
mical physiology  sufficiently  far  advanced  to  admit  of  the  discharge 
from  the  lungs  being  directly  weighed,  than  it  was  found  that  the 
discharge  from  the  lungs  was  much  greater  than  that  from  the  skin. 
Taking  the  numbers  from  our  table,  out  of  45*5  we  have  39*7  coming 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  61 

from  the  lungs  and  only  5*8  from  the  skin.  Now,  clearly,  the  cause 
of  these  discrepancies  is,  that  in  both  estimates  the  absorbed 
oxygen  has  been  neglected ;  and  in  the  first  set  of  experiments  the 
loss  falls  solely  upon  the  lungs,  while  in  the  second  set  it  falls  solely 
upon  the  skin.  To  rectify  Lavoisier's  figures,  and  restore  to  the 
lungs  their  preponderance  over  the  skin,  it  is  only  necessary  to  add 
to  18,  the  discharge  per  minute,  the  oxygen  absorbed  per  minute ; 
which,  in  the  person  of  M.  Seguin,  on  whom  the  experiments  were 
made,  calculating  from  his  insensible  perspiration,  would  be  8*645. 
We  have  thus  18  +  8*645  =  26*645  for  total  discharge  per  minute;  from 
which  deduct  the  discharge  from  the  skin,  which  having  been  actually 
weighed  undergoes  no  change,  and  we  have  26*645  -11  =  15*646 
for  discharge  from  lungs.  We  have  thus  very  nearly  the  same 
results  as  expressed  in  our  table.  Lungs  to  skin  as  15*645  to  11, 
according  to  Lavoisier's  experiments;  and  as  39*7  to  28  according 
to  table.* 

If  I  be  asked,  "  Who  is  the  author  of  this  theory  of  life,  and 
where  the  best  account  of  it  is  to  be  found  1 "  I  prefer  answering 
the  second  question  first.  The  best  account  of  it  is  to  be  found  in 
M.  Comte's  Positive  Philosophy,  Vol.  III.,  under  Biology.  But  why 
should  I  recommend  to  you  a  book  so  distasteful  to  most  people  in 
this  country?  I  should  certainly  have  felt  the  force  of  this  remon- 
strance had  I  been  addressing  mere  students,  but  it  does  not  apply 
to  the  members  of  a  Philosophical  Society,  who  are  not  restricted  to 
milk  and  spoon-meat,  but  require  a  stronger  diet.  Besides,  I  have 
a  sympathy  with  M.  Comte — that  is,  I  had  when  he  was  living,  and 
I  have  a  respect  for  his  memory  now  that  he  is  dead. 

If  you  ask  me  from  what  my  sympathy  with  M.  Comte  proceeds, 
I  reply,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  is  not  because  he  was  an  atheist. 
I  hold  him,  indeed,  not  to  have  been  dangerous  in  that  way,  because 
he  told  distinctly  what  he  was.  Somewhere  in  his  book  he  says, 
"  The  heavens  have  been  said  to  declare  the  glory  of  God ;  no,  they 
declare  only  the  glory  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  Laplace."  With  a 
man  thus  candid  you  are  safe ;  being  forewarned  you  are  forearmed. 
The  dangerous  men  are  those  who  conceal  or  disguise  their  opinions. 
If  you  ask  them,  Gentlemen,  are  you  atheists  1  they  reply  in  a  bland 
voice,  "  Oh,  you  must  not  call  us  by  so  hard  a  name ;  we  prefer  to 
be  called  anti-teleologists ;"  and  in  so  saying  they  assume  an  arch 

*  I  see  in  Liebig's  Animal  Chemistry,  p.  283,  that  Lavoisier's  estimate  of  the 
oxygen  absorbed  in  24  hoars  is  15,661  grains,  which  gives  per  minute  10*87. 
We  have  thus  for  the  true  insensible  perspiration  per  minute  18  + 10*87  =»  28*87, 
and  for  the  discharge  from  lungs  28*87  -  1 1  =  17  '87. 


62  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

and  sagacious  look,  which  shows  sufficiently  to  their  friends  and 
admirers  that  they  are  good  sound  atheists  at  bottom,  bat  being 
polite,  gentlemanly  men,  they  do  not  like  to  come  to  an  open 
rupture  with  some  obstinate  old  friends  of  theirs,  who  will  persist 
in  believing  what  their  grandmothers  taught  them — that  there  is 
a  God,  and  that  they  have  souls  witliin  their  bodies,  and  that  these 
souls,  through  grace,  may  be  saved.  These  are  the  old  wives'  fables, 
three  in  number,  which  the  anti-teleologists  wish  you  to  give  to  the 
winds ;  and  when  they  mount  your  platforms  and  endeavour  with 
delusive  arguments  and  sesquipedalian  words  to  persuade  yon  to 
embrace  anti-teleology,  you  can  be  at  no  loss  to  understand  what 
they  really  mean. 

Is  it,  then,  M.  Comte's  philosophy  that  evokes  my  sympathy? 
I  believe  one  half  of  it,  and  I  disbelieve  the  other.  That  in  the 
study  of  physics  or  chemistry  we  should  admit  only  well  ascertained 
facts  is  nothing  very  new.  Your  late  distinguished  President,  Dr. 
Thomas  Thomson,  whom  I  had  the  advantage  of  having  for  a 
teacher,  and  the  happiness  of  having  for  so  many  years  thereafter 
as  a  colleague  and  a  friend,  always  insisted  on  "  matters  of  fact — 
nothing  but  positive  facts.'1  He  professed,  therefore,  the  same 
philosophy  as  M.  Comte,  but  he  did  not  develop  it  systematically; 
as  every  candid  reader  will  acknowledge  that  M.  Comte  has  so  suc- 
cessfully done  in  the  beautiful  sketches  lie  has  drawn  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  relations  of  the  various  branches  of  science,  arranged  in 
what  he  terms  their  hierarchy,  proceeding  from  the  most  general 
to  those  more  limited  in  their  sphere— mathematics,  mechanics, 
physics,  chemistry,  and  biology. 

What  I  differ  from  M.  Comte  in,  is  his  view  of  what  constitutes 
a  fact,  and  leads  him  to  ignore  as  such  all  the  facts  of  consciousness, 
which  are  to  me  the  primary  facts,  without  which  I  could  have  no 
knowledge  of  any  other.  When  an  impression  is  made  on  any  one 
of  my  five  senses,  all  that  follows,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  is  a 
change  in  the  state  of  my  consciousness ;  and  as  such  changes  are 
continually  occurring,  and  are  not  spontaneous  like  my  thoughts,  I 
infer  that  they  proceed  from  causes  external  to  my  sphere  of  being ; 
and  thus  by  a  process  of  reasoning  I  come  to  know  and  believe  in 
the  existence  of  an  external  world.  But  that  external  world  I  only 
see  as  it  is  reflected  in  the  internal  mirror  of  my  mind.  Break  the 
mirror  and  the  images  disappear ;  make  its  surface  no  longer  plane 
but  concave,  convex,  or  irregular,  and  the  images  are  magnified, 
diminished,  or  distorted  accordingly ;  so  that  the  whole  external 
world  is  to  me  nothing  but  what  my  mind  represents  it :  and  this  is 


Dk.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  63 

to  me  the  primary  fact,  without  which  I  can  have  no  knowledge  of 
any  other. 

My  sympathy  for  M.  Comte  was  produced  by  reading  the  just 
and  generous  tribute  of  admiration  and  gratitude  which  he  pays  to 
the  man  to  whom  he  owed  the  inspiration  that  prompted  him  in 
writing  his  article  on  Biology — I  mean  M.  de  Blainville.  It  so 
happened  that,  eight  years  before  M.  Comte,  I  attended  a  course 
of  lectures  by  the  same  great  teacher  on  General  Anatomy  and 
Physiology,  and  received  from  him  an  amount,  and  above  all  a  kind 
of  information  at  that  time  quite  unknown  in  this  country,  and 
which,  I  believe,  I  could  have  received  only  from  his  lips.  This 
was  a  rare  piece  of  good  fortune  to  a  man  who,  fifteen  years  there- 
after, was  called  upon,  altogether  unexpectedly  to  him,  and  at  two 
months'  notice,  to  lecture  on  physiology  in  our  University,  and  who 
found  then  that  his  notes  of  M.  de  Blainville's  lessons  placed  him 
abreast,  or  rather  ahead  of  the  current  knowledge  of  the  time.  M. 
de  Blainville  was  besides  an  accomplished  academic  orator — for 
every  kind  of  oratory  has  its  own  sphere  for  which  solely  it 
is  fitted.  Mr.  Disraeli,  so  great  in  the  senate,  never  could  have 
been  educated  into  a  professor:  Mr.  Gladstone  might;  bearing  as  he 
does  a  great  resemblance,  both  in  manner  and  appearance,  to  M. 
Guy-Lussac,  who  was  at  that  time  the  leader  in  the  school  of 
physics,  as  De  Blainville  was  in  that  of  biology.  I  never  can 
forget  M.  de  Blainville's  face,  beaming  with  intelligence  and  good 
humour,  and  with  a  versatility  of  expression  truly  French, 
which  no  stiff  Scotsman  can  ever  aspire  to.  He  was,  besides,  a 
thorough  master  of  the  blackboard,  and  although  rather  stout,  and 
short  in  stature,  it  was  rumoured  that  he  could  jump  up  to  the  top 
of  his  blackboard  and  draw  an  animal  in  outline  before  he  came  down; 
but  certainly  his  sketches,  grotesque  as  they  were,  were  admirable 
for  the  purposes  of  illustration.  Altogether,  I  can  declare  truly, 
that  the  highest  intellectual  enjoyment  I  ever  had,  in  the  whole 
course  of  my  life,  was  in  going  for  six  months,  twice  a  week,  to  the 
Sorbonne  to  hear  M.  de  Blainville  lecture. 

To  return  to  our  subject — It  cannot  but  be  admitted  that  the  view 
of  the  vital  actions  which  I  have  submitted  to  you  does  comprise  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  phenomena  of  life,  and  many  eminent 
men  have  held  that  life  is  nothing  else  than  the  aggregate 
of  these  actions.  I  cannot,  however,  accede  to  that  opinion.  I 
have  already  stated  to  you  that  whenever  we  understand  the  nature 
of  any  physical  process,  whether  simple  or  complicated,  we  neces- 
sarily understand  also  both  how  it  commences  and  how  it  terminates. 


fa  4  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Now  the  theory  of  life  under  consideration  gives  no  conception 
whatsoever  as  to  how  life  commences,  and  only  very  confused  ideas 
a*  to  how  it  terminates,  and  as  to  the  marvellous  process  by  which 
it  is  perpetuated  from  one  generation  to  another. 

The  above  theory,  however,  corresponds  exactly  with  the  view 
which  has  always  been  entertained  vulgarly  as  to  the  nature  of  life. 
It  is  always  spoken  of  in  common  language  as  something  imparted 
to  the  body,  which  only  becomes  alive  on  receiving  it.  A  man's  life 
is  said  to  belong  to  him  just  like  his  property,  to  be  the  most 
precious  of  his  possessions.  It  has  been  described  as  a  Divine  gift 
which  has  been  conferred  upon  him,  or  a  quickening  spirit  which 
lias  been  breathed  into  his  body — the  body  being  regarded  as 
the  substratum  in  which  the  quality  of  life  subsists.  Now  this 
mode  of  speaking  belongs  assuredly  to  that  higher  life  which  is  here 
expressly  excluded  from  our  consideration,  but  of  which,  it  may  be 
remarked  in  passing,  that  the  reality  is  strongly  attested  by  the 
universality  of  this  mode  of  speaking,  as  proving  an  innate  convic- 
tion of  its  truth  in  the  human  mind  in  all  ages  and  nations.  Even 
Mr.  Darwin  speaks  of  life  as  having  been  breathed  into  his  prim- 
eval organism.  But  for  men  of  science  in  discussing  the  nature 
of  life  to  begin,  as  if  they  were  writing  an  epic  poem,  not  at  tho 
beginning,  but  in  the  middle  of  the  process — to  speak  of  it  only  after 
the  organism  has  come  into  existence,  is  surely  a  strange  transgres- 
sion of  all  the  rules  of  logic.  Every  successive  phase  which  the 
organism  assumes  is  the  result  of  the  change  that  has  been  effected 
on  the  phase  immediately  preceding  it,  and  thus  we  go  back  to  the 
embryo,  or  first  rudiment  of  the  organism.  But  we  must  still 
demand  an  answer  to  the  question,  How  was  the  embryo  produced  i 
It  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  escape  from  the  difficulty  by  saying  that 
the  embryo  was  produced  by  the  maternal  organs,  and  that  the 
embryo  of  the  mother  was  produced  by  the  grandmother,  and  so 
backward  till  we  come  to  the  first  individual  of  the  species.  The 
question  remains,  How  was  that  individual  produced,  and  whether 
as  an  embryo  or  as  an  adult  ?  which  carries  us  back  to  the  con- 
troversy which  raged  in  the  days  of  Harvey,  whether  God  first 
created  the  hen  or  the  egg —  Utrum  Deus  ovum  aut  GaUinam  print 
creaverit.  Let  me  add,  that,  to  my  mind,  nothing  can  be  more  clear 
than  that  the  first  act  of  life  is  necessarily  antecedent  to,  and 
outside  the  organism,  seeing  that  the  organism  is  the  resulting 
product. 

Dr.   Huxley's  notion  is  the  same  as   Mr.   Darwin's,   only  he 
expresses  it  in  different  language.      All  protoplasm  is  generated 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  65 

by  some  pre-existing  protoplasm,  for  there  is  not,  he  affirms,  a 
shadow  of  trustworthy  evidence  to  show  that  it  has  ever  been 
produced  in  any  other  way  during  all  the  vast  periods  of  geological 
time  in  which  the  existence  of  life  on  the  globe  is  recorded.  He 
stifles  all  inquiry  into  the  physical  origin  of  life  by  declaring  that  it 
is  enough  that  a  single  particle  of  living  protoplasm  should  once 
have  appeared  on  the  globe,  as  the  result  of  no  matter  what  agency y 
and  that  no  consistent  evolutionist  would  ask  for  more,  as  it  would 
be  sheer  waste. 

Another  objection  to  this  theory  is  derived  from  the  laws  of 
chemistry.  If  life  consists  in  a  chemical  action  between  the 
organism  and  the  ambient  medium,  it  must  come  at  once  to  an  end, 
according  to  the  laws  of  chemistry,  and  could  not  be  perpetuated. 
Every  chemical  action  between  finite  bodies,  and  even  between  one 
finite  body  and  another  of  which  the  quantity  is  practically  inex- 
haustible, comes  to  a  close  when  the  conflicting  chemical  affinities 
have  exhausted  themselves,  and  stable  chemical  compounds  have 
been  formed  which  repose  quietly  side  by  side  with  each  other.  Does 
the  same  law  hold  with  respect  to  bodies  in  the  living  state  1  Does 
the  mutual  exchange  of  elements  between  the  organism  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  ambient  medium  on  the  other,  come  necessarily  to  an 
end  1  We  are  at  first  disposed  to  say  that  it  does,  seeing  that  death 
or  the  cessation  of  life  in  the  individual  is  the  inevitable  lot  of  all 
living  beings;  and  if  we  had  only  to  consider  the  course  of  life  in 
those  organisms  that  die,  leaving  no  progeny  behind  them,  there 
would  be  in  so  far  a  complete  correspondence  between  the  actions 
that  constitute  life  and  the  ordinary  actions  of  chemistry. 

But  the  case  we  have  supposed  is  the  exception  and  not  the  rule. 
In  the  great  majority  of  cases,  when  the  organism  comes  to  maturity 
it  exhibits  a  phenomenon  utterly  irreconcilable  with  all  known 
laws  regulating  the  duration  of  physical  action  in  a  finite  body  such 
as  a  living  organism.  On  coming  to  maturity  it  forms  within 
itself,  and  detaches  from  time  to  time  from  its  substance,  a  certain 
number  of  minute  bodies  exactly  resembling  in  form  and  size  the 
germ  or  rudimentary  form  of  the  organism  itself  as  it  issued  from 
the  parental  body,  and  capable,  like  it,  of  entering  into  the  same 
series  of  actions  with  the  ambient  medium,  and  throwing  off  at 
maturity  products  similarly  endowed,  thus  rendering  the  course  of 
life,  from  one  generation  to  another,  one  continuous  chemical  action, 
to  which  no  limit  can  be  assigned  so  long  as  the  constitution  of  the 
ambient  medium  remains  unchanged.  Can  any  action  between  two 
chemical  re-agents,  even  if  one  of  them  be  inexhaustible,  be  thus 

Vol.  XT.— No.  1.  p 


06  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

prolonged  f  Every  chemist  will  answer  No,  and  will  add  emphati- 
cally, that  there  can  be  no  continuous  chemical  action  without  an 
equally  continuous  supply  of  the  elements  between  which  the 
action  originated  and  the  persistence  of  the  physical  conditions 
necessary  for  that  action. 

There  is  still  another  argument,  also  derived  from  chemistry, 
which  is  opposed  to  the  preceding  theory.  When  any  two  bodies 
act  chemically  upon  each  other,  the  products  of  their  action  differ 
from  either  of  the  original  bodies,  as  in  the  case  of  a  neutral  salt 
produced  by  the  union  of  an  acid  and  an  alkali.  No  two  such 
chemical  re-agents,  whether  simple  or  complex,  after  terminating 
their  whole  series  of  changes,  can  leave  one  or  more  products  behind 
them  identical  with  either  of  the  original  re-agents.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  one  of  the  most  striking  characters  of  living  organisms, 
that  they  produce  a  progeny  like  themselves.  Some  produce  only 
one  at  a  time — the  herring  produces  every  season  from  forty-five 
to  sixty  thousand,  the  cod  is  till  more  prolific,  while  among  plants 
there  is  a  like  diversity  in  the  number  of  seeds  and  spores. 

To  sum  up  the  objections  which  have  been  stated  to  the  current 
theory  of  life  :  It  gives  no  explanation  of  the  origin  of  life,  which 
shows  it  to  be  an  imperfect  theory,  seeing  that  every  true  explana- 
tion of  any  process,  whether  in  nature  or  in  art,  implies  a  know- 
ledge of  the  mode  in  which  the  process  commences.  It  gives  no 
explanation  of  the  origin  of  species — that  is  to  say,  of  the  mode  in 
which  life  is  renovated,  and  so  perpetuated  from  one  generation  to 
another,  after  a  common  type,  determined  by  chemical  laws, 
before  the  existence  of  the  first  individual  of  the  species.  It  con- 
fines to  the  lifetime  of  the  organism  the  whole  actions  which  con- 
stitute physical  life;  whereas  certain  vital  actions  —  the  most 
important  of  all,  as  determining  the  type  of  the  species — are 
necessarily  antecedent  to  the  existence  of  every  organism  which 
the  species  embraces.  These  organisms  come  into  existence  simul- 
taneously or  successively,  and  are  each  of  them  the  seat  of  the 
same  actions,  which  must  continue  to  be  performed  in  the  very  same 
way  so  long  as  the  cosmical  conditions  from  which  life  originates  and 
is  perpetuated  continue  unchanged  — that  is,  while  the  same  chemical 
elements  are  brought  together  under  the  same  physical  conditions. 
Last  of  all,  even  with  respect  to  those  actions  which  are  referrible 
to  a  single  organism,  it  produces  confusion  of  thought  to  refer  to  a 
common  cause  processes  so  dissimilar  as  the  formative  and  the 
oxidative  processes,  by  the  former  of  which  organic  matter  is 
prepared  to  build  up  the  organism,  while  the  latter  consists  in  the 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  67 

action  of  the  atmospheric  oxygen,  which  serves  to  pull  it  down ; 
this  last  being  in  reality  the  only  true  reaction  between  the  organism 
and  the  surrounding  medium.  Tt  is  in  the  strictest  sense  life 
according  to  the  type  of  De  Blainville.  It  cannot  exist  till  the 
organism  has  been  produced ;  it  goes  on,  if  not  interrupted,  till 
oxidation  is  completed,  and  exhibits  its  brightest  endowments  when 
there  is  an  exact  balance  of  the  assumpts  and  excretions. 

II.  Argument  from  Analysis. — Having  thus  discussed  the  only 
theory  of  life  which  seems  to  me  to  require  notice,  I  shall  now  endea- 
vour to  explain  what  I  mean  by  physical  life.  I  shall  submit  it  for 
your  consideration,  first,  as  seen  by  the  light  of  analysis;  second,  as 
viewed  synthetically,  or  by  the  light  of  experiment;  and  last  of 
all,  I  shall  arrange  the  facts  ascertained  by  the  preceding  modes  of 
investigation  in  the  form  of  an  hypothesis,  which  may  facilitate  the 
conception  of  their  connections  and  mutual  dependence. 

Those  who  construct  theories  are  just  like  other  architects,  who 
require  to  pull  down  the  old  house  before  they  lay  the  foundation 
of  the  new.  Supposing,  then,  the  ground  to  be  sufficiently  cleared, 
I  proceed  to  explain  of  what  materials,  and  according  to  what  plan, 
I  intend  to  erect  the  new  buildings.  In  doing  this  I  shall  endeavour 
as  much  as  possible  to  employ  only  established  facts,  confining,  in 
the  first  instance,  all  reasoning  about  them  merely  to  determining 
their  sequence  or  the  order  of  succession  in  which  they  may  be 
supposed  to  occur.  To  continue  the  same  figure,  which  I  find 
useful  in  explaining  my  meaning,  I  shall  show  you  the  vast  and 
inexhaustible  quarry  from  which  I  intend  to  hew ;  how  the  founda- 
tion stone  is  laid ;  how  all  the  other  stones  employed  are  exactly 
of  the  same  kind  till  the  building  is  completed;  how  thereafter 
other  similar  stones  are  still  hewn  out;  but,  the  building  being 
complete,  they  are  employed  to  build  along  side  of  it  other  houses 
exactly  similar,  till  a  whole  village,  which  at  length  attains  the 
dimensions  of  a  city,  is  constructed.  It  is  exactly  in  this  way  that 
a  whole  species  is  formed,  after  the  same  plan,  and  out  of  the  same 
materials  as  the  first  individual  that  belonged  to  it,  and  exhibited 
the  type  of  the  species. 

1.  It  has  been  shown  by  ultimate  chemical  analysis  that  living 
matter,  by  which  I  mean  the  material  substance  of  bodies  exhibit- 
ing the  phenomena  of  life,  is  made  up  of  eighteen  simple  elements. 
These  are  shown  in  Table  I.,  divided  into  two  classes,  four  cardinal 
and  fourteen  complementary  elements. 

2.  It  has  been  shown  by  proximate  analysis  that  there  are  various 
kinds  of  living  matter,  but  that  those  which  are  invariably  met  with 


68  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

in  living  organisms,  and  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  most  essen- 
tial to  life,  are  combinations  of  the  whole  four  cardinal  elements 
(C,  H,  O,  N),  with  a  relatively  small  quantity  of  one  or  more  of  the 
complementary  elements.  As  instances  may  be  given  hseniatin, 
albumen,  fibrin,  and  casein,  all  of  which  are  mainly  composed  of  the 
four  cardinal  elements  :  the  first  containing  a  small  quantity  of  iron 
in  addition;  and  the  other  three  small,  but  different  quantities  of 
sulphur  and  phosphorus.  No  organism  can  be  developed  or  con- 
tinue to  live  unless  the  ambient  medium  in  which  it  exists  presents 
to  it  all  the  inorganic  substances  essential  to  its  constitution  ;  no 
diatom  can  be  developed  in  a  medium  that  does  not  contain  silex 
to  form  the  beautiful  siliceous  skeletons  by  which  they  are  distin- 
guished ;  no  red-blooded  animal  can  be  formed  without  the  presence 
of  iron ;  nor  a  shellfish,  a  quadruped,  or  a  man,  without  the  pres- 
ence of  lime. 

3.  As  the  combinations  of  the  four  cardinal  elements  with  the  com- 
plementary elements  are  altogether  sui  generis,  there  being  no  combi- 
nations at  all  similar  to  be  found  in  physical  nature,  it  follows  that 
the  combination  of  the  cardinal  with  the  complementary  elements, 
in  whatever  way  effected,  must  be  regarded  as  the  primary  and  most 

'essential  action^of  life,  and  that  by  which  all  living  matter,  or  the 
material  substance  of  all  living  bodies,  is  produced. 

4.  Last  of  all,  water  enters  largely  into  the  constitution  of  every- 
thing that  lives. 

5.  The  sources  from  which  the  cardinal  and  the  complementary 
elements  are  derived  are  distinct  and  widely  apart,  and  both  of 
them  inexhaustible ;  as  is  also  the  supply  of  water  with  which  they 
are  invariably  combined.  The  cardinal  elements  are  derived  alto- 
gether from  the  atmosphere;  the  complementary  elements,  again, 
are  derived  from  the  superficial  strata  of  the  earth's  surface ;  and  it 
is  through  the  medium  of  water  that  they  are  brought  into  contact 
with  each  other. 

6.  Water  as  it  exists  in  nature  in  the  liquid  form,  at  ordinary 
temperatures,  always  contains  atmospheric  air  diffused  through  it, 
and  it  holds  also  in  solution  whatever  soluble  mineral  substances 
are  contained  in  the  soil  from  which  it  springs.  It  is  in  water, 
therefore,  and  in  no  other  position  that  we  are  acquainted  with,  that 
.the  cardinal  and  complementary  elements  of  living  matter  meet 
together  to  perform  whatever  chemical  reaction  they  are  susceptible 
of  towards  each  other.  Water,  therefore,  as  it  springs  from  the 
soil ;  watery  infusions  of  organic  matter,  that  is,  of  matter  that  has 
once  been  alive ;  and  moist  earthy  or  organic  substances,  constitute 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  69 

the  matrix  in  which  living  organisms  are  most  likely  to  be  pro- 
duced. 

You  will  most  probably  smile  at  my  simplicity,  when  I  say  that 
in  the  preceding  six  propositions  I  have  described  to  you  the  essen- 
tial part  of  my  theory  of  physical  life ;  may  I  ask  you  not  to  dismiss 
it  summarily,  but  to  listen  patiently  to  a  few  words  which  I  have  to 
say  on  behalf  of  it,  to  obviate  misconception,  and  to  make  my  mean- 
ing more  clearly  understood. 

Is  not  the  attempt  to  explain  the  origin  of  life  upon  physical  prin- 
ciples an  act  of  presumption?  is  it  not  even  like  the  act  of  Prome- 
theus in  stealing  fire  from  heaven,  an  act  of  impiety  1  I  think,  on 
the  contrary,  that  it  is  a  legitimate  subject  for  scientific  investiga- 
tion. A  man  may  believe  sincerely  that  "  in  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  all  that  in  them  is,"  but  he 
may  also  believe  sincerely  that  God  upholds  them  by  laws  devised 
with  infinite  wisdom,  according  to  which  He  regulates  all  events 
and  phenomena  that  occur  throughout  the  wide  universe,  and  that 
just  as  light  alternates  with  darkness,  motion  with  rest,  and  heat 
with  cold,  so  life  and  death  replace  each  other  in  never-ending  suc- 
cession. Life,  so  far  as  we  know  its  history,  is  far  younger  than 
nature,  and  since  it  first  appeared  on  our  globe  in  an  infant  form 
has  been  gradually  showing  itself  under  forms  more  perfect  and 
more  highly,  endowed.  It  is  strictly,  therefore,  a  natural  pheno- 
menon, and  in  our  attempts  to  explain  the  natural  laws  by  which 
it  is  regulated,  we  are  interdicted  from  all  appeal  to  supernatural 
agency. 

I  have  endeavoured  to  avoid  the  defects  inseparable  from  identify- 
ing physical  life  with  the  life  of  the  organism. 

Living  matter  is  always  produced  in  the  same  way,  by  the  com- 
bination of  the  cardinal  elements  with  mineral  matter  and  with 
water,  of  all  of  which  the  supply  is  inexhaustible. 

The  three  physiological  processes  by  which  living  matter  is  pre- 
pared to  initiate  the  organism,  to  develop  the  organism  into  its 
perfect  form,  and  to  form  fresh  germs  for  the  next  generation,  must 
be  regarded  as  mere  varieties  of  a  single  action,  since  they  all 
depend  on  the  same  chemical  combinations  taking  place.  There  is, 
therefore,  no  longer  any  difficulty  in  comprehending  how  an  organ- 
ism can  emit  from  its  substance  any  number  of  germs  exactly 
similar  to  the  germ  which  was  the  primordial  form  of  the  organism 
itself. 

The  germ  is  produced  by  the  convergence  of  the  newly  produced 
living  particles ;  and  the  process  of  sexual  union,  so  long  deemed 


70  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

an  inscrutable  mystery,  is  just  the  compound  form  of  the  con- 
vergent process ;  two  sets  of  germs,  each  of  them  produced  by 
the  simpler  process,  converging  to  form  the  fertile  seed  or  the 
fecundated  ovum. 

It  is  also  manifest  that  the  primordial  or  initiative  act  of  life  in 
every  species  of  living  beings  is  necessarily  external  to,  and  ante- 
cedent to  the  existence  of  all  the  organisms  which  the  species  em- 
braces. The  type  of  the  species  is  thus  determined  independently  of 
the  individuals  that  are  to  exhibit  it,  and  these  coming  into  exist- 
ence simultaneously  or  successively,  and  each  being  the  seat  of  the 
same  actions,  life  must  continue  to  be  performed  in  the  same  way  so 
long  as  the  cosmical  conditions  from  which  it  originated  continue 
unchanged  ;  that  is,  while  the  same  chemical  elements  are  brought 
together  under  the  same  physical  conditions. 

On  those  who  uphold  a  theory  of  this  kind  it  is  incumbent  to 
show  that  all  the  actions  and  phenomena  of  life,  apart  from  conscious- 
ness, are  explicable  on  physical  principles.  This  presents  no  diffi- 
culty with  respect  to  the  processes  of  oxidative  life,  for  we  know 
the  exact  quantity  of  oxygen,  both  in  the  free  and  the  combined 
states,  introduced  into  the  body  daily;  and  know  also  that  the 
whole  of  it,  excepting  what  goes  to  form  the  sensible  excretions, 
comes  out  of  the  body  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  and  water;  and, 
further,  physiologists  are  nearly  unanimous  in  regarding  those 
oxidative  processes  as  the  source  from  which  proceeds  all  physical 
energy  developed  within  the  body. 

Organisation  again,  as  we  name  collectively  the  processes  of 
formative  life,  by  which  all  living  forms  and  structures  are  pro- 
duced, is  manifestly  a  modification  of  molecular  attraction,  which 
determines  the  forms  and  structures  of  inanimate  matter;  and  the 
two  stages  of  formative  life  described  below,  under  the  names  of 
exoplasmatous  and  endoplasniatous  life  (See  diagram,  p.  20),  appear 
to  mo  to  be  quite  analogous  to  the  two  stages  in  the  act  of 
crystallisation  by  which  the  primary  and  secondary  forms  of  crystals 
are  produced. 

When  crystals  are  deposited,  as  they  most  frequently  are,  from  a 
mother  liquid — that  is,  from  a  liquid  solution — the  particles  of 
inanimate  matter  are  no  sooner  produced,  than  they  converge 
according  to  the  laws  of  molecular  attraction,  and  affect  the  primi- 
tive crystalline  forms  by  which,  except  in  cases  of  isomorphism, 
they  are  readily  distinguished  from  each  other.  Silex  becomes  a 
six-sided  prism,  common  salt  a  cube,  and  carbonate  of  lime  a 
rhomboidal    prism,    while   the    silicates    of  iron    and  lime,   with 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  an  Physical  Life.  71 

some  other  mineral  elements,  assume   the   form    of   the   garnet 
dodecahedron. 

As  crystallisation  proceeds  a  new  directive  force  comes  into  play, 
derived  from  the  primitive  crystal  already  produced,  which  so  far 
interferes  with  the  force  of  molecular  attraction  as  to  determine  the 
direction  of  the  axis  and  mode  of  attachment  of  the  new  crystals 
and  the  secondary  forms  which  they  assume.  These  secondary 
forms  are  sometimes  very  numerous,  as  in  the  instance  of  the 
carbonate  of  lime,  which  exhibits  no  less  than  618  distinct  varieties, 
from  all  of  which,  by  dextrous  cleavage,  a  nucleus  having  the 
primitive  form  of  a  rhomboidal  prism  can  be  extracted. 

The  same  laws  curiously  modified  and  admirably  adapted  to  the 
purposes  which  Nature  has  in  view,  regulate  the  production  of 
living  forms.     The  living  particles  are  no  sooner  produced  in  the 
plastic  liquid  from  which  they  spring,  than  they  converge  according 
to  the  laws  of  molecular  attraction,  and  affect  the  primitive  form 
which  all  living  particles  assume — that  of  a  germ;  and  the  most 
remarkable  law  which  regulates  this  first  stage  of  the  crystalline 
process  we  name  organisation,  is  that  all  germs  are  isomorphous. 
They  all  consist  of  a  homogeneous  membrane  disposed  in  the  form 
of  a  sac,  and  containing  in  its  interior  a  spongy  mass  of  similar 
constitution,  the  whole  being  pervaded  by  the  plastic  liquid  from 
which  the  living  particles  were  derived.     The  membrane  and  the 
included  mass  being  made  up  either  of  cells  or  of  reticular  tissue, 
are  admirably  adapted  for  absorbing  the  surrounding  liquid,  and 
nutrition  by  intus-susception,  without  which  no  organism  can  exist, 
is  thus  secured.     Still  further,  the  directive  force  of  the  structures 
already  produced  comes  now  into  play  at  every  point  within  the 
organism,  and  determines  both  position  and  form  among  the  new 
particles  of  living  matter  produced  in  the  absorbed  liquid,  and  so 
establishes  and  keeps  up  the  marvellous  process  we  name  develop- 
ment, each  successive  phase   of  the   expanding    organism    being 
regulated  by  the  directive  power  of  the  phase  which  immediately 
preceded  it. 

Two  remarkable  instances  of  the  directive  power  of  the  living 
tissues  in  directing  the  act  of  organisation  may  be  mentioned.  The 
eye  of  a  newt  after  extirpation  is  reproduced  in  a  perfect  form, 
provided  the  root  of  the  optic  nerve  has  been  left  uninjured,  but 
not  otherwise.  In  like  manner,  the  whole  shaft  of  the  tibia,  or 
great  bone  of  the  human  leg,  may  be  reproduced  after  having  been 
thrown  off  in  the  disease  named  necrosis,  if  the  two  ends  of  the  bone 
be  left  entire,  but  not  otherwise. 


-A.     SFECIEB, 
GROUP   OF   ORGANISMS   HAVING   A   DOMIOI  TTPE; 

PHYSICAL     PROCESS, 

Which  Preceded  ahd  Produced  the  Primordial  Oroauism,  or 
First  Fboobnitor  of  tub  Species, 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  73 

A  species  consists  of  organisms  sprung  from  the  same  physical 
source.  The  type  of  the  species  is  determined  by  the  chemical 
nature  of  the  exoplasmatous  action  that  produced  the  first  organism 
of  the  series,  whence  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  ashes  or  mineral 
constituents  of  the  organisms  may  be  their  most  persistent  specific 
character.  That  their  morphological  characters  vary  almost  inde- 
finitely must  be  conceded  to  the  expressed  opinion  of  men  of  such 
vast  experience  as  Darwin,  Sir  Joseph  Hooker,  and  Lamarck ;  but 
that  does  not  interfere  with  their  unity  of  chemical  composition, 
on  which  manifestly  rests  the  physiological  law,  which  renders  all 
sexual  union  beyond  the  limits  of  the  species  unproductive,  or  only 
productive  of  a  degenerate  and  abortive  progeny.  This  law  will  be 
regarded  by  some  as  a  mere  chemical  result,  but  by  many  others  it 
will  be  regarded  also  as  a  wise  provision  of  the  great  Author  of 
nature  to  preserve  the  unity  of  composition  or  purity  of  the  species; 
and  thus  render  chemically  impossible  that  system  of  universal 
mongrelism  among  all  living  beings,  which  is  hailed  at  the  present 
day  by  so  many  enthusiastic  devotees  as  a  desirable  consummation. 

Orane  Vivum  ex  Aere  might  be  an  appropriate  motto  for  a  system 
of  life  in  which  the  four  cardinal  elements  are  the  principal  agents 
in  the  formative  process,  and  oxygen  the  prime  mover  in  the 
destructive  process;  but  if  mineral  matter  and  water  are  to  be 
included,  we  approach  very  nearly  to  the  old  notion  of  living  beings 
being  made  up  of  the  four  elements,  fire,  air,  earth,  and  water,  for 
the  first  cannot  be  denied  to  organisms  that  keep  up  their  vital  heat 
by  burning  off  carbon  and  hydrogen. 

The  page  opposite  gives  a  diagrammatic  view  of  physical  life, 
which  will  render  my  meaning  more  distinct.  The  letters  A,  B,  C, 
denote  air,  water,  and  earth  in  their  natural  relative  positions. 
The  figures  1,  2,  and  3  denote  the  three  phases  of  physical  life  : — 1, 
is  the  exoplasmatous  life,  or  life  before  the  organism;  2  and  3  denote 
the  endoplasmatous  and  the  oxidative  phases,  which  together  con- 
stitute the  life  of  the  organism.  The  cardinal  and  complementary 
elements  meeting  in  water,  they  all  combine  to  produce  living  par- 
ticles, which  converge  to  form  germs ;  and  these  may  be  cells,  spores, 
seeds,  or  ova,  according  to  the  chemical  nature  of  the  living  particles. 
When  the  germ  is  completed,  it  absorbs  liquid  to  form  endoplas- 
matous particles,  which  diverge  to  give  to  the  organism  its  perfect 
form,  and  at  the  same  time  the  oxidative  or  decomposing  process 
commences,  which  produces  the  sensible  and  insensible  excretions. 
In  No.  I.  the  life  before  the  organism  takes  place  in  a  mother- 
liquid  ;  while  in  No.  II.  it  takes  place  in  the  parental  organs. 


74  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

III.  Synthetical  Argument. — The  synthesis  of  living  matter  by  a 
physical  process  is  a  problem  which  it  is  difficult  to  view  under  a 
purely  scientific  aspect  without  also  looking  at  and  being  influenced 
by  the  important  issues  that  lie  beyond  it  It  will  be  regarded  as 
a  mere  chimera,  the  offspring  of  an  extravagant  imagination,  by  all 
those  who  will  not  allow  themselves  to  think  that  living  matter  can 
be  produced  otherwise  than  in  the  old  homely  way,  by  the  well 
known  physiological  process  of  generation.  It  ought,  on  the  con- 
trary, to  be  regarded  with  signal  favour  by  all  those  who  ask  only 
for  a  single  bit  of  protoplasm  on  which  to  stand,  that  they  may 
move  the  whole  organic  world ;  but  by  a  singular  perversity  of  the 
human  intellect  these  are  the  very  men  most  strenuously  opposed  to 
it.  Last  of  all,  it  will  be  looked  upon  more  calmly  by  all  those 
who,  like  myself,  belie vo  that  there  are  as  many  kinds  of  living 
matter  as  there  are  of  species  animal  and  vegetable,  and  that  it  is 
solely  from  their  differing  in  chemical  constitution  that  they  differ 
also  in  form  and  in  endowments  ;  but  even  those  who  take  this  more 
moderate  view  cannot  but  reflect  seriously  that  if  they  once  admit 
that  under  the  existing  cosmical  arrangements  of  nature  a  monad 
or  a  bacterion  can  be  produced,  they  have  admitted  a  principle 
which,  operating  under  a  different  system  of  cosmical  arrangements, 
may  also  produce  a  palm  or  a  beech  tree,  a  quadruped  or  a  man. 

Is  there,  then,  any  evidence  derived  from  observation  to  show 
that  life,  even  under  its  lowest  forms,  does  really  originate  in  some 
such  way  as  I  have  endeavoured  to  trace  in  the  analytical  part  of 
this  memoir  1  I  reply,  as  I  fully  believe,  that  it  takes  place  every 
day,  and  everywhere — in  every  pool  and  ditch  by  the  roadside,  in 
swamps,  lakes,  and  rivers,  and  in  the  wide  ocean,  where  the  remains 
of  organisms  so  produced  are  forming  at  the  present  day  deposits  of 
chalk  and  other  strata,  just  as  they  did  in  former  ages,  whenever 
and  wheresoever  the  physical  conditions  of  existence  upon  this  earth 
admitted  of  the  primordial  chemical  action  which  constitutes  the 
beginning  of  life.  I  thus  show  my  colours  as  I  take  my  side  in 
the  great  scientific  controversy  which  has  so  long  divided  the 
learned  world,  and  now  presents  itself  in  this  place  for  discussion. 

The  free  processes  of  nature  are  difficult  of  investigation,  and  can 
be  best  j  udged  of  from  their  analogy  to  cases  better  understood.  Now 
such  cases  there  are  :  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  physiologists  on 
both  sides  have  shown  good  tact  and  generalship  in  selecting  a  more 
fitting,  because  a  more  limited  field  on  which  to  fight  out  a  Voutrance 
the  great  battle  of  homogenesis  and  heterogenesis,  archebiosis,  spon- 
taneous and  equivocal  generation,  or  by  whatever  name  it  may  be 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  75 

hereafter  known  in  history  or  in  song.  Let  me,  like  other  poets, 
enumerate  the  heroes  upon  each  side.  First  come  Schulze  and 
Schwann,  who  vied  with  each  other  in  rescuing  Life  out  of  the 
hands  of  metaphysicians,  by  whom  it  had  been  so  long  imprisoned 
in  darkness,  and  in  bringing  it  out  into  the  light  of  day  by  treating 
it  as  a  branch  of  experimental  physics.  Next  come  Pasteur  and 
Pouchet,  the  doughty  champions  who  led  the  van  on  either  side. 
Next  come  my  dear  friends  Lister  and  Bennett,  whom,  as  I  wished 
both  of  them  to  win,  I  regretted  to  see  enlisted  under  hostile 
banners.  Then  come  Bastian  and  Tyndal,  who  have  known  so 
often 

"The  stern  joy  that  warriors  feel 
In  foemen  worthy  of  their  steel." 

Nor  must  we  forget  Dougall  and  Carmichael,  our  own  fellow  towns- 
men, and  members  of  our  Philosophical  Society,  who  have  done 
good  service  in  this  cause.  But  we  must  not  speak  thus  lightly  of 
these  and  other  estimable  physiologists  who  have  given  us  the 
advantage,  as  we  enter  upon  this  obscure  subject,  of  possessing  an 
immense  store  of  facts,  collected  with  much  care  during  the  last 
forty -six  years  by  men  not  less  eminent  for  dexterity  in  experimental 
manipulation,  than  for  sagacity  in  the  interpretation  of  their  experi- 
ments; and  whose  very  differences  in  results,  when  they  did  occur, 
redounded  to  the  public  benefit,  by  leading  on  both  sides  to  fresh 
researches. 

The  synthesis  of  living  matter  is  most  easily  observed  in  liquids 
of  artificial  origin,  or  others  of  which  the  chemical  composition  and 
physical  conditions  can  be  readily  ascertained  and  altered  at  plea- 
sure. "We  are  thus  enabled  to  submit  to  experimental  investigation 
the  processes  of  nature  in  engendering  life.  There  are  two  classes 
of  such  liquids;  organic  infusions,  and  saline  solutions  without 
organic  matter. 

It  has  been  well  known  ever  since  the  microscope  came  to  be  used 
as  an  instrument  of  research,  that  when  an  infusion  of  any  organic 
substance,  animal  or  vegetable,  is  prepared  and  left  for  a  few  days 
exposed  to  the  atmospheric  air,  it  is  found  swarming  with  living 
creatures  of  the  most  various  forms,  and  so  numerous  that  they 
have  been  regarded  as  constituting  a  kingdom  of  nature  apart,  with 
distinct  natural  families  and  numerous  genera  comprehended  under 
them.  Different  infusions  yield  different  kinds  of  animalcules,  and 
the  same  infusion  yields  different  kinds  according  to  differences  of 
temperature  and  other  physical   conditions.      Each  infusion  also 


7(>  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

at  different  times  exhibits  a  diversity  in  the  animalcules  inhabiting 
it,  which  assume  gradually  a  higher  organisation.  Sometimes  again, 
instead  of  animalcules  we  find  upon  the  surface  of  the  liquid 
mould  and  other  vegetable  organisms  of  the  lowest  classes. 

The  following  are  a  few  facts  of  the  second  class.  It  is  weD 
known  that  common  drinking  water  left  in  a  broad  vessel,  freely 
exposed  to  the  air,  often  exhibits  a  film  upon  its  surface  which  is 
found  to  consist  of  monads,  amoebas,  and  other  simple  forms  of 
infusorial  life.  2.  Solutions  in  spring  water  of  organic  salts  of 
potash  or  soda,  as  acetates  or  tartrates,  become  mouldy  on  the  surface 
when  exposed  to  the  air.  3.  A  more  precise  fact  is  that  mentioned 
by  Liebig  in  his  Letters  on  Cliemistryj  pp.  240,  241 :  "  In  the  salt- 
pans of  the  salt  works  of  Rodenberg,  in  the  electorate  of  Hesse,  a 
slimy  and  transparent  mass  is  formed,  which  covers  the  bottom  to 
the  depth  of  from  one  to  two  inches,  and  is  everywhere  interspersed 
with  large  air-bubbles,  which  ascend  in  great  numbers  through  the 
supernatant  fluid,  when  the  pellicles  enclosing  them  are  torn  by 
agitating  the  mass  with  a  stick.  Pfankuch  upon  investigation 
found  the  air  enclosed  in  these  bubbles  to  be  such  pure  oxygen  that 
a  wood  splinter,  the  flame  of  which  has  been  just  extinguished, 
rekindles  into  a  flame  when  immersed  in  it.  This  observation  has 
been  confirmed  by  Wbhler.  The  microscopic  investigation  of  the 
mass  at  the  bottom  of  the  pans  proved  that  it  consisted  of  living 
infusoria,  chiefly  of  the  species  Navicula  and  Gallionella,  such  as 
occur  in  the  siliceous  fossil  strata  of  Franzensbad,  and  in  the  paper- 
like formations  of  Friberg.  After  being  washed  and  dried,  the 
mass,  upon  heating,  evolved  ammonia,  and  upon  incineration  left 
white  ashes,  consisting  of  the  siliceous  skeletons  of  these  animal- 
cule, which  preserved  the  original  form  of  the  animal  so  perfectly, 
that  they  looked  like  the  original  deposit  only  deprived  of 
motion." 

In  these  two  kinds  of  liquids,*  then,  we  have  by  our  artificial 

*  The  relations  of  these  two  classes  of  liquids  are  of  great  interest.  Every 
organic  infusion  is  necessarily  a  saline  solution  ;  both  give  living  products  when 
air  is  freely  admitted,  and  both  remain  barren  when  the  air  is  excluded.  It  is 
impossible,  as  appears  to  me,  to  avoid  the  conclusion,  that  as  the  law  of  initia- 
tion must  be  one  and  the  same  in  both  cases,  so  the  organic  matter  in  solution 
does  not  perform  a  primary  part  in  forming  the  living  products.  But  it  cer- 
tainly performs  a  secondary  part  of  much  importance;  since  Infusorians  are 
developed  more  rapidly,  of  a  higher  order,  and  in  much  greater  numbers  in  organic 
infusions  than  in  mere  saline  solutions.  This  may  arise  from  two  causes  :  from 
the  mineral  matter  in  solution  being  already  in  a  tit  state  to  form  living  products, 
and  from  the  cardinal  elements  of  the  organic  matter  entering  into  the  new  com* 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  77 

arrangements  surprised,  as  it  were,  Nature  in  her  workshop,  and 
had  full  leisure  to  contemplate  her  operations,  and  we  have  been 
rewarded  by  seeing  her  produce  those  masterpieces  of  all  her  works, 
— living  beings,  animal  and  vegetable.  That  they  are  such  is  un- 
questionable. We  recognise  them  by  their  morphological  characters, 
by  growth,  by  generation,  and  by  death,  which  are  exhibited  by  all 
of  them,  and  by  spontaneous  movements,  which  are  conceived  to 
belong  to  animals  alone.  These  latter  are  in  our  liquids  by  far 
the  most  numerous  and  diversified  :  but  it  is  often  the  reverse  where 
nature  operates  unrestricted,  as  we  see  on  the  surface  of  every 
stone  wall  and  the  bark  of  every  tree. 

But  have  we  learned  anything,  or,  rather,  have  our  experi- 
mentalists taught  us  anything  of  the  process  by  which  these  master- 
pieces were  formed?  I  think,  a  great  deal.  It  has  been  found  that  the 
free  access  of  atmospheric  air  to  the  liquid  is  indispensable  to  the 
success  of  the  process.  Nature  could  only  form  living  beings  by 
first  forming  living  matter,  and  to  form  living  matter  she  must  have 
combined  together  the  four  cardinal  elements,  with  their  complement 
of  mineral  matter  and  with  water.  Now,  in  every  instance  the 
only  raw  materials  upon  which  nature  operated  were  common 
atmospheric  air  and  an  organic  or  a  saline  solution.  Out  of  these 
re-agents,  therefore,  brought  together  and  maintained  in  apposition 
at  ordinary  temperatures,  nature  forms  the  Infusorians,  both  animal 
and  vegetable. 

The  full  import  of  these  experiments  can  be  shown  more  strik- 
ingly thus : — Subject  a  limpid  solution  of  lime  or  barytes  to  an 
atmosphere  of  carbonic  acid ;  a  film  appears  on  the  surface  of  the 
solution,  it  becomes  turbid,  and  at  length  minute  particles  make 
their  appearance  in  it,  and  are  precipitated  in  the  form  of  a  white 
powder.  You  infer  that  the  carbonic  acid  has  been  absorbed  by 
the  solution,  and  combining  with  the  lime  or  barytes  has  formed 
insoluble  carbonates  of  those  earths  which  have  been  precipitated ; 
and  your  conclusion  is  justified  by  chemical  analysis,  which  shows 
that  the  white  powder  precipitated  contains  carbonic  acid.     Just 

binations.  In  this  way  we  readily  understand  how  the  successive  races  of 
infusorians  in  every  infusion  are  of  a  higher  order  than  their  predecessors,  of 
which  the  dead  bodies  have  served,  like  manure,  to  enrich  the  infusion.  In 
the  same  way,  from  mere  exposure  to  the  air,  a  simple  saline  solution  becomes 
an  organic  infusion  by  dissolving  the  simple  organisms  first  generated  in  it. 
In  this  way  I  once  saw  a  basin  of  pure  water  from  the  pipe,  at  that  time  supplied 
from  the  Clyde  at  Dalmarnock,  covered  with  a  film  swarming  with  Vorticellae, 
which  I  never  saw  produced  artificially  on  any  other  occasion. 


78  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

in  the  same  way  a  perfectly  limpid  organic  solution  is  exposed 
to  ordinary  atmospheric  air,  a  film  forms  on  its  surface,  it  becomes 
turbid,  and  at  length  minute  particles  are  seen  moving  in  all  direc- 
tions through  it.  I  infer  that  the  four  cardinal  elements  have  been 
absorbed,  and  combining  with  certain  mineral  substances  contained 
in  the  solution  have  formed  the  moving  particles;  and  the  con- 
clusion is  justified  by  chemical  analysis,  which  shows  the  moving 
particles  to  consist  of  the  four  cardinal  elements  united  to  mineral 
matter. 

Here,  then,  if  so  minded,  I  might  cease  from  my  labours,  and 
claim  to  have  shown  you  practically  how  living  matter  is  formed 
out  of  the  four  cardinal  and  certain  mineral  elements,  treated  in  a 
certain  way.  If  you  object  that  I  have  given  you  no  theory  or 
scientific  explanation  of  the  process,  I  reply,  that  chemists  during 
last  century  understood  perfectly  the  process  for  making  muriatic 
acid,  and  were  worse  off  than  if  they  had  possessed  no  theory,  for 
they  had  a  theory  that  was  erroneous.  They  fancied  that  they 
decomposed  muriate  of  soda,  and  set  free  muriatic  acid;  and  it  was 
only  after  tho  beginning  of  the  present  century  that  Davy  proved 
to  them  that  they  decomposed  chloride  of  sodium  and  simultane- 
ously an  atom  of  water  to  form  hydrochloric  acid. 

But  I  admit  that  it  is  highly  desirable  that  we  should  under- 
stand, as  far  as  possible,  the  nature  of  this  process,  and  we  have 
again  to  thank  our  experimentalists  for  showing  us  two  steps 
more  that  we  can  take  with  safety.  Ordinary  atmospheric 
air  is  a  vague  expression.  Out  of  the  many  substances  con- 
tained in  the  atmosphere  can  we  not  select  those  which  are 
essential  to  our  synthetical  process,  and  those  which  have  no 
share  in  it?  We  are  enabled  to  do  both.  The  gaseous  elements 
existing  in  the  atmospherical  air,  as  determined  by  analysis,  take  no 
share  in  it.  If  we  prepare  nitrogen,  oxygen,  carbonic  acid,  and 
ammonia,  by  the  most  approved  chemical  processes,  and  mix  them 
in  due  proportion  to  form  an  artificial  atmosphere,  the  liquids 
exposed  to  such  an  atmosphere,  or  to  these  gases  singly  or  other- 
wise combined,  show  no  signs  of  life.  There  must,  therefore,  be 
something  present  in  ordinary  atmospherical  air,  which  does  not  exist 
in  our  artificial  atmosphere;  and  this  the  ingenious  experiments  of 
Pasteur  and  other  experimentalists  have  shown  to  consist  of 
numerous  minute  particles  floating  in  the  air,  which,  gravitating 
downwards,  fall  into  the  organic  infusions  and  saline  solutions, 
and  so  become  the  principal  reagents  in  engendering  life. 

Regarding  it  therefore  as   a  fact  established  by  experiments 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  79 

worthy  of  full  reliance,  that  common  atmospherical  air  is  loaded 
with  innumerable  minute  particles,  which  must  be  regarded  as 
playing  a  principal  part  in  the  formation  of  living  matter  in  saline 
solutions  and  organic  infusions,  the  important  question  presents 
itself  for  solution,  "  What  is  the  nature  of  these  minute  particles  ?" 

To  this  question  the  whole  learned  world,  with  only  a  few  dis- 
senting voices,  has  replied,  that  the  particles  in  question  are  germs 
thrown  off  from  the  lowest  organisms,  animal  and  vegetable;  and 
that  these  germs,  floating  about  everywhere  in  the  air,  fall  into  the 
saline  solutions  and  organic  infusions,  and  there  undergo  develop- 
ment according  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  generation. 

To  this  view  it  may  be  objected,  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  conceive 
that  there  can  be  present  in  the  atmosphere  at  all  times  and  in  every 
place  such  a  vast  multitude  of  germs  as  would  be  required  to  pro- 
duce the  whole  families  of  the  infusorians,  as  well  as  the  lowest 
fungi,  lichens,  and  mosses,  which  are  believed  to  originate  in  the 
same  way ;  and,  further,  that  as  to  the  supposed  demonstration  of 
these  germs,  as  visibly  present  in  the  air,  by  means  of  a  vivid  light 
admitted  through  a  small  aperture  into  a  dark  room,  it  has  been 
well  ascertained  that  the  majority  of  the  floating  particles  so  descried 
are  debris  from  surrounding  bodies,  organic  and  inorganic.  It 
would  certainly  be  rash  to  affirm  that  none  of  them  are  germs,  but 
it  may  be  safely  said  that  very  few  of  them  have  been  shown  so  to 
be  from  their  morphological  characters.  But  a  much  more  serious 
objection  to  this  doctrine  remains  to  be  stated,  viz.,  that  it  is  logi- 
cally inadmissible  except  by  those  who  recognise  the  supernatural 
in  science,  that  is,  who  appeal  to  supernatural  agency  as  a  fitting 
explanation  of  scientific  results.  This  objection  requires  to  be 
more  fully  stated. 

The  answer  to  the  question,  what  is  the  origin  of  life  in  the 
infusorians?  is  of  an  importance  far  beyond  the  subject  by  which 
it  is  suggested,  for  no  satisfactory  answer  can  be  given  which  does 
not  apply  equally  to  other  organisms ;  and  we  are  thus  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  old  and  vexed  question  as  to  the  origin  of  life,  or 
source  from  which  have  sprung  all  living  creatures,  animal  and 
vegetable,  that  exist  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  or  of  which  the 
remains  lie  entombed  beneath  it. 

The  view  of  the  ancient  Greek  philosophers  on  this  important 
subject,  although  deficient  in  the  basis  of  facts  on  which  it  rested, 
was  correct  in  its  general  outline.  They  held  living  beings  to  be 
first  produced  by  the  concourse  of  atoms— that  is,  according  to  a 
determinate  physical  law — and  to  be  thereafter  propagated  by  the 


80  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

physiological  process  of  generation.  But  no  sooner  had  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity  gained  a  complete  ascendancy  over  the  minds 
of  men,  than  life,  so  far  as  it  is  a  subject  of  scientific  inquiry,  came 
with  perfect  consistency  to  be  regarded  as  originating  in  generation 
alone ;  the  first  appearance  of  each  species  of  plant  or  animal  upon 
earth  being  referred  to  an  immediate  act  of  the  creative  power  of 
the  Deity.  All  men  were  agreed  as  to  the  wisdom  and  beneficence 
of  an  arrangement  which,  in  conferring  life,  substituted  the  deli- 
berate act  of  an  omniscient  Being  in  place  of  the  blind  impulse  of  the 
atoms  of  Lucretius.  Meanwhile  it  escaped  notice  that  a  principle 
before  unknown  had  been  introduced  into  science,*  and  the  doctrines 
of  biology  were  adjusted  to  the  supernatural  standard:  and  during 
eighteen  centuries  physiologists  continued,  with  perfect  consistency, 
to  believe  in  the  doctrine  that  life,  so  far  as  it  was  a  matter  of 
scientific  inquiry,  originated  in  generation  alone;  without  any 
apprehension  of  the  confusion  that  must  ensue,  if  the  science  of  a 
more  enlightened  age  were  to  repudiate  the  fundamental  principle 
on  which  that  doctrine  rested.  This  was  what  actually  happened 
during  the  second  and  third  decades  of  the  present  century,  when 
geology  first  asserted  its  place  as  a  branch  of  general  science,  and 
revealed  the  true  history  of  life  upon  the  earth. 

The  only  difficulty  experienced  in  the  first  instance  seems  to  have 
arisen  from  the  great  variety  in  the  processes  which  constitute  the 
function  of  generation ;  but  a  mode  of  speaking  was  adopted  which 
was  in  harmony,  or  at  least  not  openly  discordant  with  the  views 
of  theologians.  Generation  was  divided  into  three  kinds :  the 
ordinary  or  normal,  the  equivocal,  and  the  spontaneous  or  direct ; 
and  each  of  these  doctrines  was  held  to  infer  a  certain  moral  char- 
acter, or  rather  system  of  religious  belief  on  the  part  of  those  who 
professed  it. 

*  The  obscurity  which  hangs  around  this  subject  in  the  minds  of  many  men 
arises  from  their  not  having  formed  an  accurate  conception  of  the  true  place  for 
supernatural  agency.  It  is  clear  from  the  definition  of  science  as  "an  interpre- 
tation of  the  laws  of  nature,"  that  all  consideration  of  deviations  from  natural 
laws  is  excluded  from  it.  The  supernatural,  therefore,  can  have  no  place  in 
science.  It  belongs  altogether  to  the  sphere  of  religious  thought.  It  is  not 
only  an  essential  part,  but  the  very  foundation  of  a  religion  communicated  by 
God  to  man ;  and  the  principal  historical  facts  recorded  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  can  only  be  understood  and  believed  in  when  they  are  regarded  as 
miraculous — that  is,  as  supernatural.  I  here  simply  reproduce  the  opinions 
which  I  had  last  summer  the  benefit  of  hearing  expounded  by  an  eminent 
Scotch  divine,*  in  an  admirable  series  of  discourses,  which  he  delivered  in  his 
own  parish  church,  on  the  history  of  the  prophet  Jonah. 

*  The  Reverend  Dr.  Monro  of  Campsie. 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  81 

Normal  generation,  having  for  its  motto  "  Omne  Vivum  ex  Oyo," 
was  looked  upon,  and  continues  to  be  looked  upon  at  the  present  day, 
as  the  most  orthodox  doctrine,  and  the  safest  and  most  profitable 
to  profess;  but  it  requires  a  man  to  refrain  reverently  from  all 
inquiry  into  the  mysteries  of  the  lower  creation. 

Equivocal  generation  again,  characterised  by  the  motto  "  Omne 
Vivum  e  Vivo,"  was  always  held  in  suspicion  as  a  doctrine  savouring 
more  or  less  of  heresy,  and  which  there  was,  therefore,  danger  in 
professing.  It  was  easy  for  an  enemy  to  represent  a  mode  of 
speaking  so  peculiar  as  a  mere  disguise  for  materialism  and  atheism. 
In  this  way  a  man  in  former  times,  by  holding  this  doctrine,  might 
easily  have  been  brought  to  Smithfield  or  the  Grassmarket.  It  is 
true  that  in  these  modern  times  a  man  runs  no  risk  of  being  burned 
for  his  opinions ;  but  if  he  were  a  physician  he  might  entertain  a 
very  well  founded  apprehension  of  a  fate  as  direful,  that  of  being 
starved,  a  crown  of  martyrdom  which  there  are  peculiar  facilities  in 
awarding  to  the  members  of  the  Medical  Faculty. 

According  to  this  doctrine  living  creatures  were  supposed  to  be 
produced  not  merely  by  the  normal  processes  of  generation,  but  also 
from  the -decomposing  particles  of  animals  recently  dead,  or  from 
particles  thrown  off  from  the  bodies  of  animals  still  alive.  These  *> 
views,  as  affording  a  plausible  solution  of  many  difficult  biological 
problems,  were  popular  among  the  ancients,  with  whose  religious 
tenets  they  did  not  interfere ;  and  they  continued,  in  spite  of  religious 
difficulties,  to  have  many  adherents  up  till  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Till  then  the  description  given  by  the  poets  of  the 
process  for  repeopling  a  bee-hive  from  the  body  of  a  dead  bullock,  was 
regarded  not  as  a  fable,  but  as  a  philosophical  truth.  Harvey  and 
Bedi  showed  the  fallacy  of  these  opinions  with  respect  to  animals  so 
high  in  the  zoological  scale  as  insects,  but  they  retained  them  with 
respect  to  organisms  of  the  lowest  class.  I  myself  could  at  one 
time  see  no  other  way  of  explaining  the  phenomena  of  infusorial  life, 
and  the  more  so,  that  I  had  previously,  from  a  deeper  conviction, 
embraced  the  same  doctrine  with  respect  to  the  entozoa,  having  been 
made  a  convert  to  it  by  reading  the  ingenious,  and  for  the  time  it 
was  written  and  the  facts  then  known,  thoroughly  logical  work  of 
Bremser  on  "  Intestinal  Worms."  But  science  rests  on  facts  much 
more  than  upon  arguments,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  a  mul- 
titude of  new  facts,  added  to  both  those  departments  of  physiology, 
put  a  final  stop  to  all  such  speculations.  The  researches  of 
Kuchenmeister  and  Von  Siebold  threw  a  flood  of  light  upon  the 

origin  of  the  entozoa,  and  the  same  has  been  done  for  the  infusoria, 
Vol.  XL— No.  1.  o 


82  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

by  the  researches  of  Schulze  and  Schwann,  continued  down  to  the 
present  day  by  so  many  able  experimenters. 

The  last  of  the  three  forms  of  the  generative  process  bears  the 
name  of  spontaneous  or  direct  generation,  according  to  which  living 
beings  are  supposed  to  arise  by  the  operation  of  chemical  or  other 
physical  laws.  It  is  of  this  doctrine  that  I  have  spoken  to  you 
favourably  under  the  name  of  the  physical  initiation  of  life,  and 
which  it  is  my  object  to  commend  to  you  this  evening  as  the  only 
doctrine  worthy  to  be  received  by  a  Philosophical  Society.  Never- 
theless, I  am  bound  to  tell  you  also,  that  it  has  been  from  time 
immemorial  regarded  in  this,  and  in  most  other  Christian  countries, 
as  a  doctrine  so  impious  that  no  man  of  sound  mind  could  possibly 
believe  in  it ;  or  if,  unfortunately,  any  one  were  tainted  with  such  a 
belief,  that  he  would  at  least  conceal  it  carefully  for  the  credit  of 
human  nature,  and  the  sake  of  his  own  character,  as  well  as  from 
a  just  apprehension  of  the  universal  indignation  and  execration  of 
mankind.  No  wonder,  therefore,  if  this  doctrine  has  had  few 
adherents.  It  might,  indeed,  have  been  supposed  extinguished, 
when  suddenly  it  blazed  forth  as  a  demonstration  in  the  pages  of 
Lamarck  :  who  has  clearly  shown,  to  my  mind  at  least,  that  the 
■^  idea  of  the  physical  initiation  of  life,  in  whatever  way  explained, 
is  a  logical  necessity  for  the  human  mind,  enabling  it  to  bridge 
its  way  over  a  chasm  which  otherwise  shuts  out  all  conception 
of  life  and  living  nature.  The  name  of  Lamarck  has  ever  since 
been  held  in  abhorrence,  and  his  book  proscribed  in  all  ortho- 
dox circles — a  clear  proof  of  the  sway  which  theology  still 
wields  in  our  biological  schools.  Here  is  Lamarck's  book, 
gentlemen,  the  first  and  only  copy  of  it  that  ever  was  allowed 
to  enter  the  city  of  Glasgow.  There  is  no  copy  of  it  in  our  Univer- 
sity Library,  nor  in  the  library  of  the  Faculty  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  and  not  even  in  the  library  of  that  enlightened  body,  the 
Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow.  It  is,  gentlemen,  one  of  the  best 
books  I  ever  read,  and  worthy  of  the  name  it  bears,  Philosophic 
Zoologique,  the  work  of  a  man  of  powerful  mind,  devoted  to  truth, 
thoroughly  self-reliant,  and  having  the  moral  courage  to  carry  out 
his  principles  to  their  ultimate  conclusions.  I  am  far  from  adopt- 
ing the  whole  of  his  very  singular  conclusions ;  but  it  is  due  to  his 
memory  for  me  to  say,  that  so  far  from  being  chargeable  with  im- 
piety, his  book  contains  frequent  references  to  the  great  Author  of 
nature— the  fiTRE  SUPREME,  always  spoken  of  in  terms  of 
becoming  reverence. 

The  opinions  of  the  present  race  of  physiologists  on  the  two  sub- 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  on  Physical  Life.  83 

jects  of  life  and  generation  can  only  be  understood  aright  when 
read  by  the  light  of  history,  which  distinctly  shows  both  in  what 
way  they  originated,  and  how  utterly  incompatible  they  are  with 
each  other.  To  those  who  believe  in  the  Divine  origin  of  life  the 
doctrine  of  normal  generation — omne  vivum  ex  ovo,  is  a  logically 
consistent  doctrine,  but  it  leads  directly  ad  absurdum  for  all  those 
who  have  abjured  the  supernatural  in  science.  They  have  knocked 
the  legs  from  their  own  theory,  and  still  expect  it  to  stand 
upright.  They  conceive  for  themselves  as  to  each  species  a  vast 
pile  of  organisms,  each  resting  upon  the  one  placed  beneath  it. 
But  upon  what  does  the  lowermost  rest  ?  Upon  a  tortoise,  is  the 
only  fitting  reply,  thus  placing  the  biologists  of  the  present  day  on 
the  same  level  with  the  ingenuous  Hindoo,  who  suggested  the 
same  stable  foundation  for  the  terraqueous  globe. 

That  men  living  at  the  seat  of  the  Positive  Philosophy  will  ever 
return  to  the  simple  faith  in  the  Divine  origin  of  life  which  for 
upwards  of  a  thousand  years  sufficed  to  their  forefathers  is  neither 
to  be  expected  nor  desired ;  but  if  they  would  rectify  and  reconcile 
to  each  other  their  opinions  as  to  life  and  generation,  they  must 
go  back  to  the  philosophic  teaching  of  Lamarck ;  and  if  they  cio 
not,  they  must  be  content  to  hear  it  said,  that  the  words  of  their 
own  great  Satirist  are  as  true  to-day  as  on  the  day  they  were- 
written — 

"  De  tons  les  animaux  qui  marchent  sur  la  terre, 
Qui  s'eleVent  dans  Fair,  ou  qui  nagent  dans  la  mer, 
De  Paris  a  Peru,  de  Peru  jusqu'a  Rome, 
Le  plus  sot  animal,  selon  moi,  c'est  l'homme." 

On  our  own  side  of  the  channel,  again,  the  unconscious  influence' 
exercised  by  traditionary  ideas,  even  over  vigorous  and  cultivated 
minds,  has  been  displayed  not  less  conspicuously.  Of  this  I  need 
offer  no  other  proof  than  the  fact,  that  in  the  first  month  of  the 
present  year,  1878,  one  of  the  most  advanced  disciples  of  the  posi- 
tive school  in  this  country,  whom  M.  Comte  himself  would  have 
commended  as  being  "d'une  positivit^,  la  plus  absolue" — that  this 
most  positive  of  the  Positivists  should  have  published  an  elaborate 
dissertation  (admirable  except  in  its  conclusions),  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  the  death-blow  to  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous  generation — 
the  physical  initiation  of  life. 

IV.  Hypothetical  Argument. — Thus  far  I  am  entitled  to.  say, 
"hypotheses  non  Jingo"  as  I  have  hitherto  stated  only  facts,  and 
their  probable  relations  to  each  other.     Now,  however,  I  am  to 


84  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

follow  the  example  rather  than  obey  the  precept  of  our  great  English 
philosopher,  by  assuming  that  the  particles  which  have  been  demon- 
strated by  Pasteur  and  other  experimentalists  to  exist  in  the  air, 
seeing  that  they  are  never  absent  from  it,  ought  on  that  account  to 
be  regarded  as  natural  constituents  of  the  atmosphere.  To  this 
conclusion  the  facts  ascertained  by  analysis  and  those  of  the  syn- 
thetical kind  seem  to  me  to  point  mutually.  I  have  even  persuaded 
myself  that  we  can  make  a  pretty  accurate  guess  as  to  the  chemical 
composition  of  the  particles  in  question,  and  can  demonstrate  some 
very  important  physical  properties  which  they  possess. 

That  these  aerial  particles  are  quaternary  compounds  of  C,  H,  O, 
and  N,  mast  be  regarded  as  certain,  seeing  that  they  combine  with 
mineral  substances  to  form  living  matter,  and  that  living  matter 
always  contains  the  four  cardinal  elements  in  its  composition.  Still 
further,  it  has  been  known  ever  since  the  time  of  M.  Guy-Lussac, 
who  made  the  discovery,  that  the  organic  basis  of  all  living  matter 
is  the  same.  Albumen,  fibrin,  casein,  and  haematin  all  consist  of 
the  four  cardinal  elements  in  the  same  proportions,  united  variously 
with  phosphorus,  sulphur,  and  iron.  It  is  this  organic  basis,  dis- 
covered by  M.  Guy-Lussac,  which  is  now  spoken  of  under  the  names 
of  protein,  bioplasm,  and  protoplasm,  and  which  is  denoted  in  the 
symbolical  language  of  the  present  day  by  C^,  H^,  Ou,  and  N^ 

But  while  we  are  fully  entitled  to  assume  that  our  quaternary 
compound  does  contain  the  elements  just  quoted,  we  cannot  affirm 
that  it  may  not  have  contained  other  atoms  of  the  same  kind  which 
may  have  been  eliminated  in  the  course  of  an  interaction  so  energetic 
as  that  which  must  be  required  to  separate  such  substances  as 
sulphur,  phosphorus,  and  iron  from  the  stable  combinations  in  which 
they  existed  in  solution,  and  unite  them  in  their  simple  form  with 
the  four  cardinal  elements.  It  must,  indeed,  be  assumed  as  the 
basis  of  our  hypothesis  that  the  supposed  quaternary  compounds 
contain  the  exact  quantity  of  oxygen  necessary  to  convert  the  whole 
of  their  carbon  into  carbonic  acid,  and  the  whole  of  their  hydrogen 
into  water;  for  in  no  other  way  can  their  existence  in  the  atmos- 
phere be  reconciled  with  the  well  ascertained  results  of  the  ultimate 
analysis  of  atmospheric  air.  Particles  so  complex  in  their  constitu- 
tion resemble  the  organic  bodies  formed  by  the  processes  of  life, 
and  must  resemble  them  also  in  their  tendency  to  metamorphosis 
under  the  influence  of  chemical  and  physical  agents.  It  is  quite 
possible,  therefore,  that  the  ultimate  analysis  of  atmospheric  air  may 
differ  from  the  proximate,  and  that  if  we  do  not  adopt  that  view 
we  fall  into  an  error  of  the  very  same  kind  as  would  be  justly 


Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  <m  Physical  Life.  85 

imputed  to  any  chemist  who,  in  analysing  a  complex  organic  body, 
were  to  mistake  the  saline  compound  at  the  bottom  of  his  crucible 
for  the  actual  constituents  of  the  body  subjected  to  analysis. 

If  these  views  be  correct,  the  composition  of  the  quaternary  par- 
ticles supposed  to  exist  as  natural  constituents  of  atmospheric  air 
comes  to  be  C^,  H^,  O^  N„;  and  by  reducing  these  numbers 
to  their  simplest  terms  we  have  C8,  Hj„  0&,  N,  equivalent  to 
8(CO,),  6(OH,),  N;  that  is,  to  eight  atoms  of  carbonic  acid,  six  atoms 
of  water,  and  one  of  nitrogen. 

Do  we  know  anything  of  the  properties  and  mode  of  distribution 
of  these  quaternary  compounds  ? 

That  they  are  transparent  may,  I  think,  be  assumed,  seeing  that 
they  have  never  been  seen,  and  that  the  other  complex  atoms  exist- 
ing in  the  atmosphere — those  of  water,  of  carbonic  acid,  and  of 
ammonia — are  all  of  them  transparent.  That  they  are  specifically 
heavier  than  the  air  in  which  they  float  has  been  shown  by  many 
most  ingenious  experiments;  and  that  their  mode  of  distribution  is 
regulated  by  their  weight  and  by  the  action  of  currents  of  air 
upon  them,  has  been  shown  by  the  most  diligent  observations 
carried  on  at  all  altitudes,  from  the  tops  of  the  Alps  downwards.  To 
compare  them  to  hailstones  of  the  minutest  size  conceivable  would 
perhaps  be  no  unfitting  similitude. 

Another  property  which  these  particles  possess  in  an  eminent 
degree  is  adhesiveness  to  solid  surfaces.  In  this  respect  they 
resemble  the  particles  of  watery  vapour  in  the  atmosphere,  which 
every  one  knows  to  adhere  so  readily  to  the  surfaces  of  solid  bodies 
and  penetrate  into  porous  bodies,  rendering  them  damp  and  cold  to 
the  touch.  Now,  the  quaternary  particles  in  the  atmosphere  have 
exactly  the  same  tendency.  They  adhere  to  the  surfaces  of  solid 
bodies,  very  notably  to  glass  vessels,  by  the  surfaces  of  which  they 
are  held  so  tenaciously  that  every  such  vessel  is  unfit  for  any 
trustworthy  experiment  on  infusorial  life  that  has  not  immediately 
before  being  used  been  exposed  to  a  high  temperature.  They  pene- 
trate also  into  the  interior  of  porous  bodies,  such  as  hay  and  straw, 
and  cling  to  them  with  such  tenacity  as  to  have  occasioned  much 
difficulty  to  experimentalists  and  misunderstandings  among  them. 

On  these  facts  M.  Pasteur  has  founded  some  of  his  most  beautiful 
and  convincing  experiments.  Finding  that  these  aerial  particles,  or 
germs,  as  he  calls  them,  could  nojb  pass  along  bent  capillary  glass 
tubes,  or  through  the  meshes  of  cotton  wool,  he  prevented  them  by 
these  simple  means  from  having  access  to  his  boiled  organic  solu- 
tions, which  remained  perfectly  limpid  and  without  signs  of  life  as 


SO  Philosophical  SocUty  of  Glasgow. 

long  as  he  chose ;  but  on  removing  these  barriers,  and  giving  free 
access  to  the  atmospheric  air,  the  solutions  became  turbid,  and  had 
life  developed  in  them.  Nothing  surely  can  be  more  manifest  than 
that  certain  particles  present  in  the  air  were  excluded  from  the 
solutions  in  the  first  instance,  and  were  afterwards  admitted  to  them, 
and  produced  living  organisms. 

Nor  is  it  a  matter  of  indifference,  or  a  mere  question  as  to  a  name, 
whether  we  regard  the  particles  in  question  as  germs  or  as  natural 
constituents  of  the  atmospheric  air.  If  we  regard  them  as  germs  we 
lose  the  principal  fruit  to  be  reaped  from  the  experiment ;  for,  since 
all  germs  spring  by  the  process  of  generation  from  a  pre-existent 
organism,  we  renounce  all  inquiry  into  the  physical  origin  of  life 
and  doom  ourselves,  in  our  speculations  regarding  it,  to  wander  to 
and  fro  in  the  old  fashion,  through  a  labyrinth  from  which  there  is 
no  escape,  seeing  that,  like  a  circle,  it  has  neither  beginning,  middle, 
nor  end.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  regard  these  particles  as  natural 
constituents  of  the  atmospheric  air,  which,  on  being  diffused  through 
water,  combine  with  the  mineral  matter  which  the  water  holds  in 
solution,  and  so  form  an  exoplasm  which  assumes  the  organic  form 
correspondent  to  its  chemical  constitution,  we  arrive  synthetically — 
that  is,  by  the  way  of  direct  experiment — at  the  very  same  conclusion 
which  we  had  previously  deduced  from  the  analysis  of  living  matter. 

Chemistry  could  surely  throw  light  on  this  subject  by  determining 
the  relative  quantities  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  in  filtered  and 
common  atmospheric  air,  collected  at  the  same  time ;  as  well  as  by 
examining  the  air  collected  after  being  driven  off  by  heat  from  the 
filtering  vessel. 

It  may  be  further  urged  in  favour  of  this  quaternary  hypothesis, 
that  it  give3  a  more  simple  and  probable  explanation  of  certain 
important  physiological  phenomena  than  that  at  present  usually 
assumed. 

It  is  well  known  that  oxygen  gas  is  evolved  during  the  produc- 
tion of  living  matter  in  vegetables  and  in  the  infusoria.  Now, 
according  to  our  hypothesis,  whenever  the  quaternary  particles 
unite  with  mineral  substances  to  form  living  matter,  the  oxygen 
with  which  they  are  so  richly  supplied  separates  from  them  in  whole 
or  in  part.  It  is  evolved  outwardly  in  the  case  of  vegetables  and 
the  infusoria,  while  it  is  retained  in  their  interior  for  the  purposes 
of  oxidation  by  the  higher  animals.  In  this  way  the  organic  matter 
of  which  every  organism  is  formed  is  prepared  by  itself  or  by  the 
exoplasmic  actions  that  preceded  its  existence,  and  hence  the 
abundance  of  such  organic  matter  with  which  all  Nature  teems. 


Discussion  on  Dr.  Buchanan's  Paper.  87 

According  to  the  views  entertained  by  Liebig,  again,  all  living 
matter  is  prepared  by  vegetables,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  to  be 
transferred  directly  to  herbivorous  animals,  and  thence  indirectly 
to  the  carnivora.  The  supply  of  living  matter  is  thus  much  more 
limited,  while  the  demand  for  it  is  not  diminished. 

Besides,  there  is  no  direct  evidence  in  support  of  the  funda- 
mental proposition  on  which  Liebig's  theory  rests — that  all  living 
matter  proceeds  from  carbonic  acid,  water,  and  ammonia,  decom- 
posed by  the  organs  of  vegetables,  with  the  assistance  of  the  light  of 
the  sun ;  and  till  such  proof  be  produced  it  must  be  regarded  as 
improbable  that  the  feeble  organic  affinities  of  vegetables  could 
accomplish  such  a  result.  Life  terminates  in  the  production  of 
these  stable  secondary  compounds  which  mark  the  goal  to  which  it 
tends,  and  not  the  starting  point  from  which  it  proceeds.  Such 
compounds  are  incapable  of  further  change,  because  their  affinities 
are  exhausted.  They  are  like  boulders  which  have  fallen  to  the 
lowest  level,  where  they  lie  immovable.  They  constitute  the  damp 
heavy  air  of  the  charnel  house,  fit  emblems  of  death  and  eternal 
repose.  But  they  escape,  according  to  the  law  of  diffusion,  into  the 
free  atmosphere,  where  they  are  transformed  in  the  great  laboratory 
of  nature  into  complex  particles,  fraught  with  change,  and  therefore 
full  of  hope  and  promise,  and  these  descend  in  showers,  like  rain- 
drops, to  clothe  the  earth  with  verdure,  and  give  fresh  impulse  to 
animal  life. 

If  it  be  argued  that  no  substance  can  be  recognised  as  existing 
in  nature  till  it  has  been  actually  seen  and  submitted  to  examina- 
tion, I  reply,  that  all  chemists  believe  in  the  ammonium  of 
Berzelius,  although  it  has  never  been  seen;  that  the  same  is  the  case 
with  some  of  the  radicals  of  the  hydro-carbon  bases ;  and  chief  of 
all,  that  astronomers  believed  in  a  hypothetical  Neptune,  and  had 
calculated  his  size,  weight,  and  time  of  revolution,  as  well  as  the 
exact  part  of  the  heavens  in  which  he  was  to  be  found  for  many 
years  before  the  actual  planet  was  discovered  by  the  telescope. 


Discussion  on  Dr.  Buchanan's  Paper. 

Dr.  Watson  said  he  was  not  one  of  those  who  could  exclude 
the  supernatural  from  science.  He  held  science  to  be  a  reading  of 
the  supernaturnl  phenomena,   and  of   the  natural  laws  of   the 


88  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

universe.  These  were  all  regulated  in  a  supernatural  way.  They 
could  just  as  well  tell  the  beginning  of  a  crystal  as  of  life,  and  the 
one  was  just  as  supernatural  as  the  other.  Dr.  Buchanan  had 
appealed  to  chemistry  for  the  explanation  of  life  and  living  matter, 
but  he  held  that  no  chemist  had  or  ever  would  analyse  living 
matter,  as,  in  the  first  place,  laboratory  processes  necessarily  killed 
the  living  matter,  and,  in  the  second  place,  very  much  of  what  was 
generally  supposed  to  be  living  matter  in  the  body  was  actually 
dead— only  the  small  masses  of  protoplasm  scattered  through  the 
body  being  really  alive.  In  the  strictest  sense  of  the  term,  even 
such  structure  of  muscle,  or  at  least  the  contractile  portions  of 
muscle,  were  not  living,  and  the  secretions  of  the  body  also  which 
had  been  most  carefully  analysed  by  chemists  were  likewise  dead. 
All  chemical  experiments  had  been  made  on  dead  matter ;  call  it 
organic  substance,  if  they  would,  but  still  it  was  matter  that  was 
truly  dead.  He  thought  that  the  author  should  have  spoken  much 
more  of  the  material  in  the  body  that  was  really  alive,  and  which 
had  been  denominated  by  modern  physiologists  bioplasm  ;  but  on  this 
point  he  referred  them  to  a  paper  read  by  himself  before  the  Society 
about  two  years  ago,  and  which  was  printed  in  the  Proceedings. 
Regarding  the  origin  of  life,  experimental  evidence  was  very  unsatis- 
factory, as  the  journals  one  month  contained  experiments  on  one 
Bide  most  carefully  performed,  and  next  month  experiments  on  the 
other  side,  performed  with  equal  care  and  precision ;  in  fact,  a  man 
to  form  an  opinion  from  such  evidence,  must  have  faith  in  his  own 
experiments  and  in  no  other.  He  had  himself  performed  but  few 
experiments,  but  he  had  watched  with  great  interest  experiments 
performed  by  Lister  and  Dr.  Carmichael,  and  they  all  seemed  to 
prove,  as  indeed  Dr.  Buchanan  admitted,  that  atmospheric  particles 
were  necessary  for  the  production  of  life ;  but  the  author  had  left 
them  in  doubt  as  to  whether,  in  his  opinion,  the  particles  were  organic 
particles  or  not.  He  firmly  believed  these  particles  to  be  organic, 
and  widely  distributed  through  the  atmosphere,  although  science 
had  not  yet  decided  whether  they  were  universally  present  or  not. 
As  far  as  proof  had  yet  been  led,  they  had  not  got  beyond  the 
dictum  Omnia  vita  ex  ovo. 

Dr.  W.  B.  Richardson,  London,  on  invitation  of  the  President, 
said  this  was  one  of  the  parts  of  philosophical  science  he  had  never 
particularly  cultivated.  He  did  not  know  that  he  had  ever  made 
a  single  experiment  bearing  upon  the  subject  that  Dr.  Buchanan 
had  been  speaking  upon.     True,  he  had  seen  a  great  many  experi- 


Discussion  on  Dr.  Buchanan's  Paper.  89 

meats  in  London,  and  in  that  way  he  might  be  able  to  hold  the 
balanoe  as  between  the  two  sides ;  but  he  must  say  he  had  never 
seen  anything  on  either  side  that  had  sufficiently  accounted  for  the 
phenomena  observed.     Now,  Dr.  Buchanan  came  forward  with  a 
new  theory,  the  substance  of  which  was,  that  certain  particles  were 
given  np  by  the  air  to  water,  and  meeting  there  with  other  atoms, 
unite  with  them  to  form  living  particles.     He  confessed  that  when 
this  subject  came  before  him  he  had  difficulty  in  accepting  it,  but 
there  was  also  great  difficulty  connected  with  the  theory  of  organic 
particles  in  the  air  being  considered  the  germs  of  the  various 
forms  of  life  developed  in  exposed  fluids.     It  was  difficult  to  con- 
ceive that  everywhere  throughout  the  atmosphere  there  existed 
myriads  of  germs  so  specifically  different  among  themselves  as  were 
the  forms  of  life  developed  in  fluids  wherever  exposed  to  the  ordi- 
nary atmosphere.   Neither  could  Dr.  Buchanan's  theoretical  quater- 
nary particles  in  the  air  be  regarded  as  more  satisfactory  than  the 
older  theory  of  aerial  germs,  as  to  account  for  the  differing  forms  of 
life  produced.  It  would  be  necessary  to  suppose  that  these  quaternary 
compounds  differed  from  one  another  widely  in  constitution,  other- 
wise it  seemed  to  him  that  only  one  particular  form  of  life  could  bo 
developed  by  the  action  of  these  particles.     Dr.  Buchanan  in  his 
reply  might  enlighten  them  as  to  how  these  quaternary  compounds, 
in  his  opinion,  gave  rise  to  the  varying  forms  of  life.    At  the  present 
time,  there  was  no   experimental  proof  of  the  existence  in  the 
atmosphere  of  such  quaternary  molecules  as  Dr.  Buchanan  assumed 
to  be  there  present.     Both  the  Chairman  and  Dr.  Buchanan  had 
assumed  that  the  development  of  life  did  not  occur  in  the  presence 
of  chemically  pure  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  and  carbon,  such  as 
a  chemist  might  prepare  in  his  laboratory.    But  the  experiment  had 
not  yet  been  made  that  could  convince  him  that  in  a  vegetable 
fluid  under  an  atmosphere  chemically  pure  the  development  of  life 
was  impossible.     He  had  not  yet  met  with  any  'account  of  experi- 
ments proving  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt  this  assumption  of 
the  author  and  of  kthe  President     In  concluding  his  remarks,  Dr. 
Richardson  said  he  was  quite  willing  to  admit  that  he  was  yet 
quite  ignorant  of  the  origin  of  life,  and  he  sat  down  more  bewildered 
than  ever. 

Dr.  Carmichael  stated  that  in  actions  of  living  organisms  they 
were  acquainted  with  no  forces  that  were  not  physical.  Dr. 
Buchanan  wanted  them  to  go  a  step  farther,  and  to  regard  the 
origin  of  life  also  as  depending  on  purely  physical  agencies  acting 


90  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow, 

on  molecules  which  met  in  water,  combining  them  into  living 
particles.  But  the  question  was — Was  the  living  substance  which 
they  knew  to  be  constantly  developed  in  water  the  result  of  mere 
physical  synthesis,  or  was  it  the  descendant  of  pre-existing  living 
organisms  1  Experiment  proved  that  in  a  fluid  capable  of  develop- 
ment which  had  been  boiled,  and  protected  from  the  ordinary 
atmosphere,  life  was  not  developed,  showing  that  in  the  process 
of  boiling  something  had  been  destroyed  which  previously  existed 
there,  and  which,  but  for  the  boiling,  would  have  given  rise  to 
living  forms;  but  if  to  this  boiled  fluid  a  single  drop  of  common 
water  were  added,  life  would  be  produced  in  as  great  abundance 
as  if  the  fluid  had  not  been  boiled  at  all.  Dr.  Buchanan  had 
assumed  that  it  was  as  easy  to  account  for  the  formation  of  a 
crystal  of  phosphite  of  lime  as  of  a  little  bladder-like  living  cell, 
but  he  held  that  the  cases  were  in  no  way  parallel.  Dr.  Richardson 
had  stated  that  it  was  not  proved  that  under  chemically  pure  air 
or  oxygen  life  could  be  developed  in  a  fluid;  but  to  his  mind 
Pasteur  had  settled  this  question  beyond  all  doubt.  In  the  water 
spoken  of  by  Dr.  Buchanan  there  must  exist  innumerable  mole- 
cules, organic  and  inorganic,  derived  from  the  strata  of  the  river  bed. 
Like  the  President,  he  also  held  that  all  life  was  directly  descended 
from  pre-existing  living  matter. 

Dr.  M'Vail  thought  the  paper  a  most  important  contribution 
to  the  science  of  Biology.  If  he  understood  Dr.  Buchanan's  paper 
aright,  its  object  was  to  teach  that  in  the  air  there  were  quaternary 
particles,  consisting  of  carbon,  oxygen,  hydrogen,  and  nitrogen, 
which,  when  brought  into  contact  with  organic  fluids  or  solutions, 
gave  rise  to  development  of  little  living  masses  of  protoplasm. 
Dr.  Buchanan  did  not  seem  in  his  paper  anywhere  to  assume 
that  these  quaternary  particles  were  themselves  organic.  If  Dr. 
Buchanan  intended  to  teach  that  these  particles  brought  about  by 
a  catalytic  action  the  formation  of  living  molecules,  then  he  had 
opened  up  a  new  aspect  of  the  question  altogether,  and  originated 
a  discussion  that  would  soon  extend  far  beyond  the  walls  of  this 
Society.  In  inorganic  chemistry  instances  of  catalytic  action  are 
frequent — certain  substances  bringing  about  the  union  of  certain 
other  substances  in  their  neighbourhood  without  themselves  under- 
going any  change.  In  the  living  body  also  catalytic  action  was  of 
constant  occurrence.  In  the  alimentary  canal  ordinary  non-dialy sable 
proteids  were  by  the  action  of  certain  "  ferments "  converted  into 
dialysable    "peptones,"  and    the   ferments  themselves  underwent 


Discussion  an  Dr.  Buchanan's  Paper.  91 

no  change  whatever,  but  could  go  on  converting  fresh  portions 
of  ordinary  proteids  into  peptones.  It  was  therefore  quite  an 
admissible  view  of  the  question  to  take,  to  suppose  that  certain 
particles  in  the  air  might  have  such  a  catalytic  action  on  organic 
fluids,  the  particles  themselves  not  necessarily  organic.  Dr.  Tyndall 
had  shown  that  the  ordinary  air  was  filled  with  ultra-microscopic 
particles  which,  however,  were  rendered  apparent  by  a  beam  of 
light;  he  had  further  shown  that  the  heat  of  a  spirit  lamp  caused 
their  disappearance.  But  it  could  not  therefore  be  assumed  that 
they  were  organic,  as  the  heat  of  a  spirit  flame  would  volatilise 
almost  any  particles  of  such  extreme  minuteness,  whether  organic 
or  not.  It  seemed  to  him,  Dr.  M'Vail,  that  the  advocates  of  spon- 
taneous generation  were  continually  achieving  little  bits  of  success, 
that  they  were  continually  gaining  ground.  Not  long  ago  it  was  held 
to  be  a  fact  beyond  dispute,  that  after  exposure  to  a  temperature 
of  100°  C,  and  immediate  hermetical  sealing  thereafter,  there  could 
be  no  development  of  life.  But  Bastian  had  shown,  and  Dr.  Burdon 
Sanderson  even  had  admitted  he  had  successfully  shown,  that  even 
under  such  circumstances  life  might  be  developed  without  any 
further  communication  with  the  external  air.  True,  Dr.  Burdon 
Sanderson  had  subsequently  shown  that  after  a  tomperature  of 
110°  C.  there  would  be  no  development  of  life;  but  then  possibly 
this  also  might  be  found  to  be  incorrect,  and  at  any  rate  Dr. 
Bastian  had  pushed  his  opponents  at  least  one  little  step  back. 
Again,  chemists  had  of  late  years  made  from  inorganic  materials 
many  very  complex  substances,  formerly  deemed  producible  only 
by  living  organisms.  As  Dr.  Odling  expressed  it,  the  oleaginous 
substances  were  quite,  and  the  saccharine  almost  within  the  grasp 
of  synthetic  chemistry.  And  since  Dr.  Odling's  lectures  had  been 
delivered,  the  very  complex  substance  neurine  had  been  made  from 
inorganic  materials.  He  concluded  by  saying  that  Dr.  Buchanan's 
paper  was  a  most  suggestive  and  substantial  contribution  to  the 
subject. 

Dr.  Stirton  said  he  had  listened  with  great  pleasure  to  Dr. 
Buchanan's  chemical  exposition  of  physical  life,  and  while  he  agreed 
with  him  in  several  aspects  of  his  theory,  he  must  diverge  in  one 
particular  direction  from  him.  His  researches  had  hitherto  been 
confined  to  lower  vegetable  organisms,  and  more  especially  of  late 
he  had  been  viewing  the  cycle  of  changes  that  took  place  in  some 
of  the  lower  Algae,  such  as  Protococcus  pluvialis,  and  on  one  occasion 
he  had  succeeded,  by  means  of  the  spectroscope  adapted  to  the 


92  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

microscope,  in  obtaining  variations  in  the  spectro  lines  daring  a 
complete  act  of  generation  or  fission.  He  found  that  at  the  first 
start  of  this  act  of  generation  two  tolerably  -well  defined  lines  in 
the  spectrum  diverged.  As  the  act  of  generation  went  on  another 
fainter  third  line  appeared;  and  what  might  be  termed  the  maxi- 
mum, just  before  fission  was  completed  these  same  lines  began  to 
converge  again.  This  phenomenon,  in  his  opinion,  indicated  a 
complete  cycle,  not  only  of  vital  changes  but  chemical  changes. 
No  chemical  theory  of  life  would  account  for  as  complete  a  cycle  of 
changes,  changes  reverting  to  their  original  condition. 

Dr.  Renfrew  was  of  opinion  that  all  matter,  organic  and  inorganic 
alike,  was  composed  of  molecules  each  having  its  own  specific  impress, 
and  all  of  which  were  acted  on  by  forces,  such  as  electricity,  heat, 
and  light,  and  by  a  controlling  power  were  grouped  as  crystals, 
organic  cells,  or  other  forms.  He  held  bioplasm  to  be  an  aggrega- 
tion of  molecules,  individually  and  collectively  controlled  by  forces 
acting  on  them,  the  actions  of  these  forces  themselves,  so  far  as  tho 
molecules  were  concerned,  being  modified  by  the  original  impress 
given  to  each. 

Mr.  V.  P.  Buchan  congratulated  Dr.  Buchanan  on  the  bold 
and  manly  way  in  which  he  stood  forth  to  advocate  truth,  however 
unpopular  or  unpalatable  to  the  majority  of  people  this  truth 
might  be. 

Dr.  Buchanan,  in  reply,  stated  that  his  paper  was  the  result  of 
forty  years'  consideration  of  the  subject.  If  he  lived  a  few  years 
longer  he  could  not  tell  whether  his  opinion  might  remain  as  it  was, 
or  would  change.  He  thanked  the  Society  for  the  attentive  manner 
in  which  they  had  listened  to  his  paper. 


Mr.  Jas.  B.  Napier  on  an  Unsound  Wine.  93 


X. — On  the  Chemical  and  Microscopical  Analysis  of  an  Unsound 
Wine.  By  Mr.  Jas.  B.  Napier,  F.B.S.,  and  Professor 
J.  G.  M'Kendrick,  M.D. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  January  23,  1878.] 


Mr.  Jas.  B.  Napier  gave  an  account  of  a  purchase  of  wine  he 
had  made  from  a  maker  in  Taormina,  Sicily.  According  to  the 
winemaker/s  statement  "it  was  a  very  fine  and  pure  natural 
white  wine,  called  Alcantara,  perfectly  pure,  of  exquisite  flavour  and 
perfume,  and  moderately  dry.  It  had  been  heated,  and  all  ferment 
perfectly  destroyed,  and  the  price  for  a  quarter  cask  of  about  23 
gallons,  free  on  board  at  Messina,  would  be  £7,  10s."  The  Custom 
House  duty  on  arrival  in  Glasgow  having  been  charged  at  2s.  6d. 
per  gallon,  instead  of  at  the  shilling  duty  of  natural  wine,  led 
him  to  suspect  that  it  was  a  fortified  wine  which  had  been  sent 
to  him,  and  not  the  natural  wine  ordered.  He  stated  that  the  two 
analyses  submitted,  the  one  by  Dr.  Edward  J.  Mills,  Glasgow, 
and  the  other  by  Dr.  August  Dupre,  London,  agreed  in  showing 
that  the  wine  was  neither  pure  nor  natural — that  at  least  from 
6  to  8  per  cent  of  proof  spirit  had  been  added.  Dr.  Mills  says 
that  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  acetic  ether  present,  and 
Dr.  Dupre*,  that  the  excessive  amount  of  acetic  ether  proves  the 
wine  to  be  unsound,  and  in  a  condition  in  which  it  certainly  ought 
not  to  have  been  sold.  A  remark  of  Pasteur's  in  his  "  Etudes 
sur  le  Vin"  as  to  the  parasites  in  unsound  wine,  led  to  Mr.  Napier's 
getting  a  microscopical  analysis  of  the  wine  from  Dr.  M'Kendrick 
of  the  Glasgow  University.  This  showed  that  there  were  abund- 
ance of  the  Mycoderma  aceti  and  the  Mycoderma  vini,  as  figured  by 
Pasteur,  present. 

Report  on  Alcantara   Wine,  by  Dr.  J.  Mills,  F.R.S.,  Professor  of 
Technical  Chemistry  in  Anderson's  College,  Glasgow. 

I  have  examined  the  sample  of  wine  which  you  handed  me  on 
May  24.     The  results  are, — 


94  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Alcantara  Wine. 

Specific  gravity  at  17°.7  C. 0*9990 

Alcohol  per  cent,  by  weight, 15*0  \ 

[Equal  to  "proof  spirit," 32'5]> 

Total  acids,  reckoned  as  tartaric,  per  cent, .                .  0*67 

Sulphuric  acid  (So4)  per  cent., "06 

[Equivalent  to  Piaster  of  Paris, *08 

or  Tartaric  acid  lost, *09] 

The  acidity  is  much  above  the  average,  as  far  as  I  can  find,  for 
Sicilian  wines:  probably  but  little  of  it  is  owing,  in  fact,  to 
tartaric  acid,  but  to  acetic  acid.  There  is  a  considerable  amount 
of  acetic  ether  present,  and  the  wine  has  in  general  a  harsh, 
acetic  character. 

Although  not  a  heavily  plastered  wine,  the  Alcantara  contains 
an  amount  of  plaster  of  Paris  in  solution  that  is  not  natural,  but 
the  effect  of  an  addition  during  manufacture.  In  this  respect 
it  resembles  most  sherries.  It  also  contains  at  least  3  per  cant, 
of  added  spirits  (absolute  alcohol). 

The  wine  has  the  general  character  of  an  inferior  sherry,  not 
"natural"  either  in  respect  of  its  plaster  or  added  spirit.  It  would 
probably  yield  unpleasant  results  in  bottling. 

!  EDWARD  J.  MILLS. 


Report  on  a  Sample  of  Wine  received  from  Mr.   Jos.   B.  Napier, 
July  11,  1877,  by  Dr  August  Dupre,  F.R.S. 

The  wine  was  contained  in  an  ordinary  wine  bottle,  corked  but 
not  sealed.  The  bottle  had  two  labels,  one  with  "Alcantara," 
the  other  with  "  From  Jas.  R.  Napier,  22  Blythswood  Square, 
Glasgow.  August  Dupre,  Esq.,  Westminster  Hospital,"  written  on. 
On  analysis  the  wine  yielded  the  following  result : — 


Specific  gravity  of  wine, 

Alcoholic  strength  in  per  cent,  proof  spirit, 

Total  free  acid,  calculated  as  tartaric  acid, 

Free  fixed  acid  calculated  as  tartaric  acid, 

Free  volatile  acid  calculated  as  acetic  acid 

Real  tartaric  acid 

Total  dry  residue,  .        .        . 


Consisting  of  \  mineral  matters  f1*1* 
( organic  matters,    . 


999  3 
33*3    per  cent. 
057        „ 


019 

0-30 

000 

5  02 

0-55) 

4-47$ 

019 


99 


n 


if 


The  ash  contained  alkaline  carbonates, 
The  rest  consisting  chiefly  of  sulphate,  phosphate,  and  chloride  of  potassium, 
calcium,  and  sodium. 


Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier  on  an  Unsound  Wine.  95 

The  above  analysis  proves  that  the  wine  has  been  fortified  by 
the  addition  of  spirit,  at  least  from  6  to  8,  if  not  more  per.  cent, 
of  proof  spirit  having  been  added.  No  natural  European  wine 
the  purity  of  which  is  beyond  doubt,  has  ever  yet  been  found  to 
contain  anything  like  the  above  proportion  of  spirit,  and  26  to  27 
per  cent,  proof  spirit  must  be  taken  as  representing  the  strongest 
natural  European  wines.  The  wine  next  contains  an  excessive 
proportion  of  acetic  acid,  showing  it  to  have  been  badly  kept,  and 
having  in  consequence  turned  sour  in  some  degree.  The  pro- 
portion of  alkaline  carbonates  in  the  ash  is  remarkably  high,  and 
this,  coupled  with  the  extremely  low  percentage  of  free  fixed 
acid,  leads  me  to  the  belief  that  the  excessive  acidity  of  the 
wine  has  been  in  part  neutralised  by  the  addition  of  an  alkali. 
Lastly,  the  proportion  of  sulphate  present  is  also  rather  high, 
indicating  that  in  all  probability  the  wine,  or  rather  the  must, 
has  been  slightly  plastered.  The  total  absence  of  tartaric  acid 
points  to  the  same  conclusion. 

As  regards  the  addition  of  spirit  and  the  slight  plastering,  they 
are,  in  wines  of  this  class,  such  common,  not  to  say  universal 
practices,  that  they  cannot  well  be  made  matters  of  complaint 
unless  this  particular  sample  was  specially  declared  to  be  free  from 
such  admixture.  The  excessive  proportion  of  acetic  acid  is,  however, 
a  very  different  matter,  it  proves  the  wine  to  be  unsound  and  in 
a  condition  in  which  it  certainly  ought  not  to  have  been  sold. 
My  conclusions  are  thus  shortly  the  following  : — 

1st,  That  the  wine  has  undoubtedly  been  fortified. 

2nd,  That  it  is  unsound. 

3rd,  That  in  all  probability  it  has  been  slightly  plastered,  and 

treated  with  an  alkali  to  reduce  excessive  acidity. 

Dr.  A.  DTJPR& 
Westminster  Hospital,  London, 

July  16,  1877. 

Microscopical  Analysis  of  Wine,  by  Dr.  M'Kendrick,    University  of 

Glasgow,  November  6,  1877. 

I  have  examined  with  the  microscope  (magnifying  power  800 
diameters)  the  Alcantara  wine,  and  I  find  in  it  abundance  of  Myco- 
derma  aceti  and  Mycoderma  vini,  as  figured  by  Pasteur  in  Figs. 
1,  3,  and  4  of  his  work  "Etudes  sur  le  Vin,"  which  I  send  along 
with  this  note.  When  the  wine  is  poured  into  a  glass,  a  scum  or 
pellicle  gathers  on  the  surface  of  it,  and  it  is  in  this  scum  that 


06  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

the  organisms  are  chiefly  found,  but  they  also  exist  more  or  less 
throughout  the  fluid.  From  their  appearance,  and  from  the 
masses  of  debris  lying  about  in  the  field  of  the  microscope,  I 
think  the  organisms  are  dead,  and  that  they  have  probably  been 
destroyed  by  excess  of  alcohol  or  of  acetic  add  or  ether  in  the 
wine.  I  mention  this  because  it  is  well  known  that  when  the 
alkalinity  of  decomposing  urine  reaches  a  certain  point,  all  the 
organisms  which  at  first  initiated  the  alkaline  fermentation  are 
killed,  and  I  suppose  a  similar  occurrence  has  taken  place  in  this 
wine.  In  its  present  condition  the  wine  is  undoubtedly  niwmiml 
and  unfit  for  use. 

JOHN  G.  M'KENDRICK. 

After  a  short  account  of  the  views  of  Pasteur  regarding  the 
causes   of  unsoundness  of  wine,  Dr.  M'Kendrick  explained  that 
he  had  examined  two  samples  of  the  wine  submitted  to  him  by 
Mr.  Napier,  with  the  result  of  finding,  (1.)   numerous  specimens 
of  the  fungus  figured  by  Pasteur  as  Afycoderma  aceti,  the  cause  of 
acidity  in  wine ;  (2.)  specimens  of  My  coder  ma  vini,  always  found 
in  greater  or  less  abundance  even  in  perfectly  sound  wines ;  and 
(3.)   a  few  isolated  cells,  about  the  ^Vtf  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
nucleated,  and  closely  resembling  the  common  yeast  cell,  Fonda 
cererisice.     He  had  no  doubt  of  the  unsound  character  of  the  wine  ; 
and  he  pointed  out  that,  by  the  use  of  the  microscope,  those  inter- 
ested in  wines  might  discover  the  presence  of  microscopic  organisms 
even  before  the  evidence  of  unsoundness  could  be  ascertained  by 
the  senses   of  taste  and  smell.     If  these  microscopic  organisms 
became  abundant,  the  wine  quickly  became  so  unsound  as  to  be 
detected  by  the  unaided  senses ;  and  when  this  stage  had  been 
reached,  it  was  impossible  to  do  anything  to  remedy  the  evil. 
It  would  be  a  matter  of  great  importance  to   ascertain  by  the 
microscope  the  presence  of  the  fungi  while  they  were  still  com- 
paratively few  in  number,  as  at  that  stage  they  might  be  destroyed 
by  the  use  of  one  or  other  of  the  processes  mentioned  by  Pasteur 
in  his  work,  "  Etudes  sur  le  Yin." 


Discussion  on  Paper  by  Mb.  Napier  and  Dr.  M'Kendrick. 

The  President  then  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Napier 
and  Dr.  M'Kendrick,  and  invited  discussion  upon  the  paper. 


Discussion  on  Mr.  Napier's  Paper.  97 

Dr.  Wm.  Wallace  expressed  an  opinion  that  the  wine  which  had 
been  the  subject  of  the  paper  had  been  fortified  after  becoming 
unsound,  in  order  to  give  it  so  far  the  properties  of  a  dry  sherry, 
which  was  characterised  by  the  presence  of  very  small  quantities 
of  sugar  and  a  moderate  amount  of  acetic  acid.  He  pronounced 
the  wine  under  discussion  as  quite  unfit  for  use,  in  consequence 
of  the  large  quantity  of  acetic  acid  contained  in  it.  Referring  to 
the  process  of  "  plastering, "  which  this  wine  had  evidently  under- 
gone to  some  extent,  he  said  that  the  "  plastering  "  of  wine  seemed 
to  be  almost  universal  in  Spain,  and  he  deprecated  it  as  rendering 
wine  unwholesome.  He  observed  that  beer  and  porter  were 
called  "hard"  when  they  contained  even  less  than  one-half  of 
the  acetic  acid  in  the  wine  before  him. 

In  answer  to  a  question  by  the  President,  Dr.  Wallace  said 
that  he  had  repeatedly  advised  wine  importers  to  introduce  into 
this  country  wines,  natural  wines,  which  had  neither  boon  "  plas- 
tered "  nor  "  fortified." 

The  President  referred  to  the  use  of  carbonate  of  lime  in 
Italy  for  the  curing  of  the  acidity  of  wine,  and  Dr.  Wallace 
explained  Liebig's  method  of  doing  the  same  by  the  addition  of 
the  neutral  tartrate  of  potash. 

Mr.  Napier  stated  that  the  process  used  by  Pasteur  for  pre- 
serving natural  wine  in  corked  bottles  was  simply  to  raise  its 
temperature  for  a  few  minutes  to  about  140°  F.  This  was  safely  and 
efficiently  performed  by  placing  the  bottles  in  a  bath  of  cold  water 
and  heating  that,  the  depth  of  water  being  such  as  to  be  above 
the  level  of  the  wine.  On  the  large  scale  the  wine  was  heated  to 
the  necessary  temperature  in  specially  constructed  apparatus 
before  being  corked,  and  sometimes  it  was  heated  in  the  casks 
themselves.  Pasteur  had  proved  by  many  experiments  that  at  the 
temperature  of  140°  F.,  and  even  at  a  considerably  lower  tempera- 
ture, the  vitality  of  all  the  parasites  which  he  had  found  in 
wines  of  all  descriptions  was  destroyed,  and  that  the  wines  so 
treated  were  preserved,  and  had  more  of  the  delicate  flavour  or 
bouquet  of  matured  sound  wine  than  was  found  in  wine  fortified 
with  alcohol. 

The  process  of  preserving  wine  on  the  large  scale  being  so 
very  cheap,  Mr.  Napier  saw  no  reason  why  sound  and  durable 
natural  wine — wine  without  any  spirit  having  been  added  to  it — 
should  not  be  procurable  in  any  British  wine-shop  or  public-house 

Vol.  XL— No.  1.  h 


98  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

for  eightpence  or  ninepence  per  bottle,  or  even  for  less.  He  had 
bought  wine  last  year  outside  the  gates  of  Messina,  for  which  he 
had  paid  at  the  rate  of  twopence  per  bottle. 

In  explanation  of  the  discrepancy  between  Dr.  Mills  and  Dr. 
Dupr6's  statement  of  the  amount  of  proof  spirit  in  the  wine  the 
following  note  from  Dr.  Dupr6,  and  which  had  been  mislaid  during* 
the  meeting,  is  appended  : — 

Dr.  DuPRfe  to  Jas.  R  Napier,  Esq. 

Westminster  Hospital,  July  28, 1878. 

"Dear  Sir, — The  discrepancy  in  alcoholic  strength  between  the 
reports  of  Dr.  Mills  and  myself  is  really  very  small,  and  quite 
within  a  reasonable  limit  of  error;  even  one  experimenter  estimating 
the  strength  of  the  same  wine  twice  over  will  often  find  as  great 
a  difference  between  his  first  and  second  estimation.  However, 
in  the  wine  under  consideration  another  explanation  is  also 
possible.  The  sample  which  Dr.  Mills  had  had  a  higher  specific 
gravity  than  mine;  the  difference  is  in  reality  greater  than  that 
shown  by  the  figures,  because  Dr.  Mills  seems  to  have  taken  the 
specific  gravity  at  17*5,  whereas  mine  was  taken  at  15*5.  This 
would  add  about  -0003  to  Dr.  Mills1  figure,  and  make  it  999*9 
against  mine,  999*3;  and  this  is  just  about  the  difference  which 
would  be  caused  by  the  difference  in  alcoholic  strength,  as  given 
by  Dr.  Mills  and  myself  respectively.  Besides  this,  Dr.  Mills  gives 
the  total  acid  as  0*67;  I  found  0*57.  Now  this  is  very  much  beyond 
an  experimental  error,  and  shows,  I  think,  that  the  sample 
examined  by  Dr.  Mills  contained  more  acetic  acid  than  the  one  I 
had.  This  of  course  would  have  been  caused  by  the  oxidation  of 
alcohol;  and  Dr.  Mills  would  naturally  find  less  alcohol  than  I 
found,  some  alcohol  having  been  changed  into  acetic  acid.  This 
is  by  no  means  extraordinary;  the  bottle  may  not  have  been  corked 
quite  as  well,  or  may  have  remained  open,  or  stood  upright  a 
longer  time,  <fea  There  are  many  causes  which  might  induce  a 
greater  production  of  acetic  acid  in  one  bottle  as  compared  to 
another,  when  once  the  action  has  begun.  I  am  of  opinion,  there- 
fore, firstly,  that  the  actual  difference  is  unimportant,  and  may  either 
be  due  to  a  small  error  on  the  one  side  or  the  other  (I  believe  mine 
is  very  close  to  the  truth,  for  it  is  the  mean  of  two  experiments) ; 
or,  what  seems  on  the  whole  more  probable,  the  sample  which 
Dr.  Mills  examined  has  suffered  more,  was  furthur  gone  on  the 
stage  of  becoming  vinegar,  than  the  sample  I  had. — Yours  truly, 

"A.  DUPRfc." 


Dr.  Jas.  Stirton  on  Licliens  gi-owing  on  Living  leaves.      90 


XI. — Licliens  growing  on  Living  Leaves  from  the  Amazons. 

By  Dr.  James  Stirton. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  February  20,  1878.] 


The  following  are  descriptions  of  lichens  received  from  Professor 
Trail  of  Aberdeen,  who  gathered  them  in  1874  on  the  banks  of 
the  Amazon  and  its  tributaries,  during  an  expedition  sent  out 
for  the  purpose,  inter  alia,  of  investigating  the  flora  of  that 
interesting  part  of  the  earth's  surface.  The  present  paper  is 
supplementary  to  another  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the 
PhUosopliical  Society  of  Glasgow,  containing  descriptions  of  those 
secured  in  the  same  localities  by  the  same  botanist  from  the 
bark  of  trees. 

The  specimens  from  which  the  diagnoses  were  taken  are,  in 
many  instances,  veiy  small,  and  in  one  case,  the  whole  specimen, 
containing  only  one  apothecium,  was  destroyed. 

The  subject  of  lichens  growing  on  living  leaves  has  hitherto 
been  only  very  partially  investigated.  Passing  notices  by  the 
earlier  lichenologists,  as  Fee,  Montagne,  <fcc,  have  from  time  to 
time  appeared;  but  as  their  descriptions  are  quite  inadequate 
for  determination,  unless  in  one  or  two  characteristic  instances, 
it  is  possible  I  may  have  trenched  to  a  slight  extent  on  their 
ground,  more  especially  as  I  do  not  possess  any  of  their  types. 
Montagne  was  more  devoted  to  mycology,  and  his  descriptions  in 
this  section  are  more  reliable ;  but  the  microscope  of  his  day  was 
a  very  imperfect  instrument,  at  least  in  the  earlier  part  of  his 
career  as  a  botanist.  Nylander  has  supplemented  several  of 
Montagne's  descriptions,  and  added  several  new  species,  while 
Leighton  has  recorded  and  described  two  or  three  new  species  from 
Ceylon,  <kc. 

During  these  investigations  there  were  detected  on  the  same 
leaves  several  minute  fungi  imbedded  in  lichen  thalli,  i.e.,  in 
thalli  abundantly  supplied  with  gonidia,  and,  what  is  somewhat 
extraordinary,  presenting  external  appearances  which  at  first  sight 
closely  allied  them  to  several  lichen  genera.  According  to  modern 
ideas  of  classification,  their  internal  organisation  is  such  as  to 


100  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

preclude  their  ranking  as  lichens.  "Without  possessing  any  precise 
knowledge  of  this  section  of  mycology,  I  have  ventured  to  insert 
here,  by  way  of  addendum,  descriptions  of  the  more  curious  and 
interesting  of  these;  and  the  reason  I  havo  done  so,  is  owing  solely 
to  the  fact  that  none  approaching  to  them  in  characteristics  have 
hitherto  come  under  my  observation,  besides,  the  specimens  are, 
with  one  exception,  indivisible.  The  attention  of  mycologists  will 
accordingly  be  directed  to  them. 

Lastly,  I  havo  appended  descriptions  of  several  lichens  gathered 
by  Mr.  J.  King  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  mining  district  of 
Upper  Chili. 

Considerable  difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  the  classification 
of  one  group  of  these  leaf  lichens,  viz.,  those  having  thin  flat 
scale-like  apothecia.  The  majority  have,  without  hesitation,  been 
referred  to  the  rather  indefinite  genus  Arthonia,  as  the  characters 
correspond  sufficiently,  while  the  external  habit  in  all  is  very 
similar.  In  one  instance  the  presence  of  paraphyses  pretty  distinctly 
defined,  and  of  murali-locular  spores  in  tlieca?  with  thin  walls,  pre- 
sented an  obstacle  to  classification  with  the  Arthonia;,  accordingly  it 
has  been  relegated  to  the  Lecidcac.  A  second,  having  indistinct  but 
perceptible  paraphyses  and  fusiform  spores,  contained  in  oblong 
thecae,  also  with  thin  walls,  i.e.,  not  arthonioid,  has  been  referred 
to  another  indefinite  genus,  viz.,  Platygrapha.  All  this  is  unsatis- 
factory, and  even  perplexing  to  tho  student.  Externally,  as  lias 
been  said,  the  members  of  this  group  of  lichens  present  appearances 
with  or  without  the  aid  of  a  Codington  lens,  which,  prima  facie, 
warrant  close  affinities,  and  yet  their  internal  organisation  differs 
widely  in  the  instances  indicated.  As  these  differences,  although 
minute,  arc  characteristic,  there  is  no  alternative,  according  to 
modern  classification,  but  to  take  account  of  them  and  act  accord- 
ingly. It  is  very  questionable,  however,  how  far  such  artificial 
groupings  are  in  tho  interests  of  natural  science.  Classifications 
based  chiefly  on  anatomical  distinctions  are  the  order  of  the  day, 
and  so  far  justly,  inasmuch  as  the  microscope  has  done  much  for 
the  study  of  natural  science  which  would  otherwise  be  inex- 
plicable. While  admitting  the  truth  of  all  this,  we  must  not 
altogether  lose  sight  of  other  considerations,  viz.,  those  based  on 
external  manifestations.  All  the  lichens  indicated  have  external 
appearances  so  closely  allied  as  to  render  it  difficult  or  even 
impossible  to  discriminate  between  them.  Granting,  then,  that  these 
external  characters  correspond  to  others  microscopical,  whereby 
the  whole  could  be  referred  to  one  genus,  so  far  well;  but  when 


Dr.  Jas.  Stirton  on  Licluns  growing  yil  Living  Leaves.     101 

the  microscope  reveals  characters  such  as  to  oblige^  the  investigator 
to  refer  the  different  specimens  to  distinct  and  e^b. -distant  genera, 
the  question  arises,  -whether  we  are  to  sacrifice  these -external  and 
obvious  characters  for  the  sake  of  others  to  whose-  detection  the 
aid  of  the  microscope  is  necessary  ?  Had  these  minute*  'characters 
been  unmistakable  and  constant  throughout  a  series  of  specimens, 
we  should  be  obliged  to  succumb  to  their  importance ;  but. -when 
they,  too,  admit  of  almost  indefinite  gradations  that  shade  *©f£.-gn 
either  side  of  what  may  be  considered  as  the  type,  their  significajdfre  . 
is  lessened,  and  in  proportion  to  such  variation.  Such  is  true  " 
in  the  present  instance.  In  the  genus  Lecidea,  which  trends  in//" 
more  places  than  one  on  the  genus  Arthonia,  we  have  at  times  *.-]-/ 
thecse  with  thick  pellucid  walls,  i.e.,  arthonioid,  and  paraphyses  *  . 
which  scarcely  deserve  the  name,  while  the  innate  apothecia, 
with  somewhat  irregular  outline,  betray  affinities  and  analogies 
in  another  direction  with  the  same  genus.  Nay,  we  have  Arthonise 
with  sessile  and  round  apothecia,  as  in  Lecidea.  Arguments  of  a 
similar  character  are  not  awanting  in  other  genera.  The  question 
then  reduces  itself  to  this,  seeing  that  both  microscopical  and 
obvious  characters  vary  almost  indefinitely,  whether  is  it  pre- 
ferable to  hold  to  microscopical  characters  as  a  basis  of  classification, 
to  the  almost  entire  exclusion  of  the  more  obvious  and  palpable, 
or  [vice  versa,  or,  what  in  our  opinion  is  better,  to  take,  in  tho 
first  instance,  those  larger  and  more  obvious  characters  as  the 
main  basis  of  classification,  and  subdivide  by  means  of  the  micro- 
scope? It  is  true  that  in  lichens,  as  in  other  departments  of  natural 
history,  a  certain  proportion  will  not  find  a  proper  place,  t.c,  there 
will  be  certain  anomalies  here  as  elsewhere.  But  seeing  this  is 
true  whatever  classification  is  adopted,  inasmuch  as  Nature's  oper- 
ations will  not  be  hemmed  and  cramped  under  any  particular 
order,  let  us  have  recourse  to  that  classification  which,  while  it 
proceeds  from  the  obvious  to  tho  unseen,  will  best  assist  the  student 
in  liis  researches.  We  ought  to  sacrifice  a  great  deal  to  this  aim. 
As  it  is,  the  subject  of  lichcnology  is,  to  the  student,  beset  with 
such  difficulties  and  perplexities,  that  it  is  only  the  few  who  have 
either  the  leisure  or  perseverance  to  advauce  to  an  intimate  know- 
ledge of  the  science. 

Thelotrema  conspersum,  sp.  no  v. 

Thallus  pallida  vircscens,  tenuis  membranaceus;  apothecia  pallida 
verruciformia,  laevigata  firma  sessilia  parva  (latit.  vix  #2  mm.), 
^pithecio  poriformi  rotundo  firmo  (latit.  -04-  -05  mm.);  spore  8n® 


102  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

ina>loresobovat®\*l.~septat®,  medio  nonnihil  constrict®,  '009  -  *012 
x  *003  -  '0035*  T&U& ;  paraphyses  graciles  irregulares,  non  bene  dis- 
tinct®, in  gelatina  firma  involut®.     Iodo  gel.  hyni.  non  tincta  nisi 

lutescens.  .*•/••• 
••  •  * 
Supra'frpkiles  Asplenii  serrati  (L.) 

There*  are  occasionally  seen  traces  of  an  inner  perithecium,  while 

the  Vkole  internal  organisation  is  much  more  that  of  Thelotrema 

tfran.of  Yerrucaria. 


•V/v&ecidea  leucoblephara  (Nyl.) 
v  • . .  *  Supra  folia  Bactridis  campestris. 

The  characters  as  described  by  Nylander  tally  sufficiently  well 
*•     with  those  of  this  lichen,  although  there  are  minor  differences. 

Lecidea  redepta,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  sordide  virescens  tenuis  ;  apothecia  sessilia,  fusca  vel 
fusco-nigra  parva  (latit.  circ.  *2  mm.)  plana,  margine  non  prominulo 
pall  id  e  fuscoscente  cincta ;  spor®  (6  -  8)n®  incolores  obtuse  fusi- 
formes,  3  -  septat®  interdum  1  -  septat®,  -009  -  *012  x  -003  -  -0035 
mm. ;  paraphyses  pare®  graciles  conglutinat®  apicibus  incoloribus ; 
hypothecium  obscuratum  vel  vix  coloratura.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  coeru- 
lescens  dein  sordide  violacca. 

Supra  folia  B.  campestru. 

This  lichen  is  undoubtedly  closely  allied  to  L.  leucoblephara,  per- 
haps too  much  so,  but  the  differences  indicated  above  are  constant. 

Lecidea  ccelopa,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  virescens  tenuis;  apothecia  pallida  vel  pallide 
fuscescentia  sessilia  concava  parva  (latit.  circ.  '2  mm.),  in  receptaculo 
cupulari  obscuriore  recepta ;  spone  (4-6  -  8?)n®  incolores  oblong® 
murali-divis®,  '03  -  -045  x  -01  -  013  mm. ;  paraphyses  mollius- 
cul®  graciles  confertissim®  non  bene  discret®,  apicibus  concoloribus 
non  clavatis ;  hypothecium  pallidum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta 
nee  spor®  nisi  flavescentes.     Supra  folia. 

Lecidea  secubans,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  vel  pallide  cinerascens  tenuis,  s®pissime  granulis 
albidis  minutissimis  creberriter  inspersus ;  apothecia  innata  pallida 
vel  obscure  pallida  concaviuscula  parva  (latit.  circ.  #2  mm.),  margine 
albido  circumscisso  cincta ;  spor®  (1  -  2)n®  incolores  oblong®  vel 
ellipsoide®  murali-divis®,  '024  -  *036  x  #009  -  *016  mm. ;  paraphyses 
non  bene  distinct®  irregulares  anastomosantes;  hypothecium  incolor* 
Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta.     Supra  folia. 


Dr.  Jas.  Stirton  on  Lichens  growing  on  Living  Leaves.    103 

Coenogonium  dialeptizum,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  vel  pallid  e  lutescens,  e  filamentis  non  articulatis, 
dense  contextis,  tenuissimis  (latit.  *005  -  '007  mm.)  passim  hirsutulis 
constitutus.  Spermogonia  pallide  flavescentia,  parva,  fere  globosa 
(latit.  circ.  *15  mm.) ;  spermatia  fusiformes,  ssepius  curvul®, 
•007  -  *009  x  *0015  mm.  Apothecia  juvenilia  modo  visa;  para- 
physes  graciles  (latit.  circ.  *002  mm.)  distinct®  apicibus  incoloribus 
clavatulis. 

Platygrapha  rotula  (Mnt.) 

This  lichen  varies  much  in  the  size  and  shape  of  its  spores,  in  the 
tint  of  its  hvpothecium,  and  not  a  little  in  its  reactions  with  iodine, 
but  the  outward  manifestations  are  constant  and  characteristic. 
The  perithecium  is  black,  lateral,  and  obliquely  set,  Le.  truncate- 
conical. 

Platygrapha  pnemorsa,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallido-,  vel  cinereo-virescens  tenuis,  minute  granuloso- 
inspersus ;  apothecia  nigra  (latit.  circ.  #4  mm.)  in  prominentia  thal- 
linis  depressis  innata,  perithecio  nigro  oblique  laterali;  spor® 
(4  -  8)n®  incolores  rect®  obtuse  fusiformes,  3  -  7  -  septat®,  '035  — 
•052  x  *004  —  *0055  mm. ;  paraphyses  graciles  irregulares  non  bene 
distinct®  apicibus  incoloribus  non  clavatis ;  hvpothecium  nigrum. 
Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta  vel  passim  leviter  rubescens.  Gonidia 
oblonga  in  lineis  radiantibus  dense  disposita.     Foliicola. 

This  ought  to  be  separated  from  PL  rotula.  Its  external  appear- 
ance is  also  characteristic. 

Platygrapha  tumidula,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  virescens  tenuis,  granulis  albidis  firmulis  hemi- 
sphsericis  parvis  (latit.  circ.  '08  mm.)  inspersus  ;  apothecia  rotunda 
fusco-nigra  vel  nigra,  in  tuberculis  thallinis  depressis  innata,  plana 
parva  (latit.  *1  —  *13  mm.),  margine  thallodeo  cincta;  spor®  8n® 
incolores  oblongae  3  -  septat®,  *015  —  *023  x  -0045  -  *00G5  mm. ;  para- 
physes graciles  pare®  irregulares  non  distinct®  apicibus  fere 
incoloribus  ;  hvpothecium  incolor  vel  fere  incolor.  Iodo  gel.  hym. 
non  tincta  nisi  flavescens. 

Supra  foliola  Bactridis  campestris. 

Platygrapha  quadrangula,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  cinereus  vel  cinereo-virescens  tenuis  membranaceus ; 
apotjiecia  nigra  sessilia  obtuse  quadrangularia  (latit.  *2  -  '5  mm.), 
epithecio  albido  acute  sed  irregulariter  quadrangulari,  perithecio 


104  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

nigro  oblique  laterali ;  spore  (1  -  3)n»  incolores  oblongae  (4  -  7)  - 
loculares,  loculis  apicalibus  nonnihil  amplioribus,  '015  -  '024  x  *006 
-  "0085  mm. ;  paraphyses  graciles  irregulares  interdum  quasi  inter- 
rupte  vel  subcontinuse ;  hypothecium  incolor.     Iodo  gel.  hym.  non 
tincta.     Foliicola. 

In  only  one  instance  have  six  spores  been  detected  in  one  theca ; 
in  all  others  the  number  varied  from  one  to  three. 

Platygrapha  rutila,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  virescens  tenuis  minute  granuloso-inspersus ; 
apothecia  coccinea  rotunda  vel  interdum  nonnihil  difformia  vel 
angularia  (latit.  *15  -  *4  mm.),  concava  zeorina,  viz.,  acute  marginata 
et  margine  thallino  prominulo  cincta ;  spore  8nae  incolores  oblongte, 
vel  fusiformi-oblongae,  3  -  septate  interdum  1  —septate,  '008  -  -012 
x  -003  -  '0035  mm. ;  paraphyses  distincte  apicibus  incoloribus  clava- 
tulis;  hypothecium  rufescens  (K.  purpurascens).  Iodo  gel.  hym. 
non  tincta.     Foliicola. 

Affinis  PL  coccinece  (Leight.),  sed  sporis  minoribus  et  8nis,  &c. 

Platygrapha  nebulosa,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  virescens  vel  lurido- virescens  tenuis;  apothecia 
fusca  plana  rotunda  (-3  -  '9  mm.)  omnino  depressa  vel  interdum 
subinnata,  margine  depresso  albido,  late  ncbuloso  vel  nbrilloso- 
contexto  cincta;  spone  8nsc  incolores  oblongae  vel  fusiformi-oblongae, 
3  -  septate,  -009  -  -012  x  -003  -  '0035  mm. ;  paraphyses  graciles  in- 
distincte  irregulares  apicibus  incoloribus  non  clavatis ;  hypothecium 
fuscum  vel  fusco  nigrum  grumosum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  cocrulescens 
presertim  thccse.     Foliicola. 

The  paraphyses  are  nob  distinct,  but  are  traceable,  and  rendered 
more  so  by  K.  The  thecse  are  not  arthonioid,  and  altogether  a 
section  of  the  apothecium  presents  a  firmer,  more  compact  appear- 
ance than  in  the  Arthoniae;  otherwise  this  lichen  might  have  ranked 
in  this  genus  along  with  the  others  having  flat  scale-like  apothecia. 

Platygrapha  homala,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  vel  pallide  cinereo-virescens  tenuissimus;  apo- 
thecia fuscu  plana  rotunda  vel  ellipsoidea  parva  (latit.  *2  -  "5  mm.) 
omnino  depressa;  sporae  (4  -  8)nae  incolores  obtuse  fusiformes  inter- 
dum curvulw  (4  -  8)  -  septate,  -014- -021  x -003  - '0035  mm.,  ra- 
rissime  9  -  septate  ct  -026  x  -004  mm.;  paraphyses  pellucidae  indis- 
tincte;  hypothecium  fuscescens  vel  pallidius  interdum  nigricans. 
Todo  gel.  hym.  coerulescens  praesertiin  thecarum.     Foliicola. 

The  thcca*  are  not  arthonioid,  but  the   paraphyses   are  rather 


Dr.  Jas.  Stirton  on  Liclicm  growvn<j  on  Licing  Leaves.    105 

vague.     This  lichen  is  accordingly  only  provisionally  ranked  with 
the  Platygraphse. 

Arthonia  aciniformis,  sp.  nov. 

Thallos  pallidus,  vix  ullus  visibilis;  apothecia  fusca  vel  fusco- 
nigra  plana  rotunda  (latit.  "2  -  #4  mm.)  omnino  depressa;  spore 
8nae  in  thecis  fere  sphaericis  et  plerumque  confertis,  oblongo- 
obovatae  vel  forms  acinorum  uvae,  incolores  1  -  septatae,  *0085  - 
•012  x  *0045  -  -006;  paraphyses  nullae  distinctae;  hypothecium  incolor. 
Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta  vel  passim  leviter  fulvescens.    Foliicola. 

Arthonia  accolens,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  cinereo-virescens  tenuissimus;  apothecia  intus  pallide 
foscescentia,  fusca  plana  rotunda  (latit.  -2  -  -5  mm.)  omnino  de- 
pressa; sporae  (2  -  8)nae  incolores  oblongae  vel  potius  clavato-ovi- 
formes  2  -  septatae  interdum  1  -  septatse,  -012  -  '01C  x  *0045  —  *0055 
mm.;  paraphyses  nullae  distinctse;  hypothecium  concolor.  Iodo  geL 
hym.  non  tincta.     Foliicola. 

This  and  the  preceding  are  undoubtedly  closely  allied,  but  as 
the  differences,  so  far  as  investigated,  are  constant,  they  have  been 
kept  separate. 

Arthonia  commutata,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  leviter  virescens  tenuis;  apothecia  fusca  plana  omnino 
depressa;  sporae  (4  -  8)nae  oblongo-obovatae  fuscescentes  2  -  septatse, 
rarissime  1  -septatae,  -011  -  -017  x  0045  -  -006  mm.;  paraphyses 
valde  indistinc tie ;  hypothecium  concolor.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  vinose 
rubescens,  interdum  vinose  rubens.     Foliicola. 

The  thallus  is  composed,  as  usual,  of  radiating  oblong  gonidia; 
apothecia  somewhat  obscure  within. 

Arthonia  suffusa,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  vel  cinereo-virescens  tenuissimus ;  apothecia  fusca 
rotunda  plana  (latit.  -3  -  *8  mm.)  omnino  depressa;  sporae  (4  -  8)nae 
incolores  oblongae,  3 -septatae,  -O^-'OlGx  -004- -005  mm.;  para- 
physes indistinctae ;  hypothecium  fere  incolor  vel,  in  lamina 
crassiuscula  visum,  fuscescens.  Thecae  iodo  ccerulescentes,  caetero- 
quin  gel.  hym.  non  tincta.     Foliicola. 

Arthonia  peraffinis  (Nyl). 

The  Peruvian  specimens  have  round  or  oblong  fuscous  apothecia, 
and  the  hymeneal  gelatine  is  vinoso-fulvescent,  or  fulvescent  with 
iodine.     Foliicola. 


106  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Arthonia  perplcxans,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallid  us  vel  pallide  virescens  membranaceus;  apothecia 
nigra  prominula  rotundata  oblonga  vel  irregularia  parva  (longit.  *3 
mm.  vel  minora);  spore  (4  -  8)na*  incolores  rectse  obtuse  fusiformes, 
5  -  septatae  interdum  (3  -  6)  -  septata?,  -013  -  -02  x  -003  -  -0035  mm.; 
paraphyses  valdo  indistinctce  et  irregulares;  hypothecium  fuscum. 
Iodo  gel.  hym.  vinose  rubescens.     Foliicola. 

This  lichen  partakes  of  the  habit  and  appearance  of  an  Opegrapha, 
but  no  sulcus  can  be  discovered  in  the  apothecium,  <fcc. 

Arthonia  heterella,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  albidus  vel  pallide  cinerasccns  tenuis  determinatus; 
apothecia  lutescentia,  rufo-cervina,  vel  etiam  fusca,  rotunda  vel 
oblonga  (longit.  -3  -  -8  mm.),  tenuia  omnina  depressa,  madefacta 
pellucida ;  spora?  (4  -  C  -  8)nao  incolores  ellipsoidea?,  vel  fusiformi- 
ellipsoidcje,  murali-divisa?,  *022  -  -033  x  *009  —  *015  mm.;  paraphyses 
gracillima*  irregularis,  interdum  ramosulse  non  distinctse  apicibus 
incoloribus.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta  nisi  lutescens,  protoplasma 
thecarum  rubescens  vel  fulvescens.  Supra  folia  Bactridis  cam- 
pestris,  &c. 

This  species  is  included  under  the  genus  Arthonia,  as  externally 
it  presents  much  the  appearance  of  the  rest  of  the  section,  although 
the  thecaj  are  scarcely  arthonioid,  and  the  thread-like  paraphyses 
imbedded  in  what  appears  as  a  stiff  jelly  might  warrant  association 
with  the  Lecidea?. 

Mclaspilea  symplecta,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  vel  pallide  virescens  tenuis;  apothecia  sessilia 
plana  vel  convexula  parva  (latit.  '2  -  *25  mm.),  nigricantia,  pallide 
fuscescentia  vel  pallide  rufescentia,  mai'gino  non  prominulo  pallidiore 
cincta ;  spora)  in  thecis  arthonioideis  (2  -  4)we  plerumque  3nae 
oblongo-cylindraceae  vel  fusiformi-cylindraceap,  murali-divisae,  *07 
—  *1  x  -011  -  -015  mm.;  paraphyses  distinctse  filiformes  irregulares 
ramosne  apicibus  intricate  contextis;  hypothecium  pallide  fuscescens 
vel  fere  incolor  tenuo  grumosum.  Iodo  geL  hym.  leviter  cceru- 
lescens,  ea  thecarum  intense  ccerulescens. 

Supra  foliola  Qtiassice  amarcc.    Affinis  M.  metabolm  (Nyl.) 

The  epithecium  appears  as  an  almost  continuous  covering  into 
which  the  paraphyses  are  inserted. 

Verrucaria  retrusa,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  nigro-cinereus  tenuis;  apothecia  nigra  mediocria  (latit. 


Dr.  Jas.  Stirton  on  Lichens  growing  on  Living  Leaves.    107 

•2  —  '3  mm.)  prominula  obtecta,  perithecio  crasso,  dimidiatim  nigro 
et  incurvulo ;   sporo  in  thecis  cylindraceis   8nae  incolores   cylin- 
draceae  vel  obtuso    fusiformes   simplices,    *009- #013  x -003  — '004 
mm.;  paraphyses  distinctte  nliformes.     Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta. 
Spermatia  oblonga,  -0045  -  -0055  x  001  -  -0015  mm.     Foliicola. 

Verrucaria  pertensa,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  cinereus  rugosus  vel  potius  a  laciniis  adpressis 
minutia  irregularibus  plerumque  radiantibus  percursus ;  apothecia 
prominula  obtecta  (latit.  circ.  *4  mm.),  perithecio  tenui  pallido  vel 
fusco  vel  etiam  nigro  dimidiato;  spone  8nce  uniseriatae  incolores 
fusiformes  1  -  scptatae,  *013  -  *018  x  -004  —  "005  mm. ;  paraphyses 
distinct®  nliformes.  Iodo  protoplasma  thecarum  dilute  vinose 
rubescens  vel  fulvescens.     Foliicola. 

Verrucaria  perexigua,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus,  vix  ullus  visibilis;  apothecia  nigra  nitida  minuta 
(latit.    *1  -  -15   mm.)    dimidiata;    sporae    8nw  in    thecis  saccatis, 
incolores  oblongse  vel  fusiformi-oblongse  3  — septatae,  -011-  '017  x 
•004  —  *00o  mm.;  paraphyses  nullse  distinctae.     Iodo  gel.  hym.  vix 
tincta  nisi  interdum  leviter  rufescens.     Foliicola. 

The  paraphyses  appear  as  faint  irregular  lines  in  a  stiff  jelly. 
Supra  folia  Soroceae  ? 

Verrucaria  rubicolor,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  flavo-virescens  vel  interdum  obscure  cinerascens  tenuis 
membranaceus,  bene  definitus;  apothecia  vinoso-rubentia  translucida 
e  cellulis  oblongis  parallele  dispositis  fere  omnino  composite, 
dimidiata,  parva  (latit.  circ.  -25  mm.);  sporao  8nae  incolores  obtuse 
fusiformes,  3 -septatae  interdum  1 -septatae,  *018-  *02G  x  '001- 
•005  mm.;  paraphyses  distinctae  nliformes.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  non 
tincta.     Foliicola. 

Verrucaria  rubentior,  sp.  nov. 

Similis  prsecedenti,  sed  apotheciis  parvioribus  (latit.  circ.  -15  mm.) 
et  sporis,  3  -  septatis,  -013  -  -017  x  -003  -  004  mm.     Foliicola. 

The  apothecia  appear  to  be  composed  of  larger  cells  more  irregularly 
disposed.     Both  have  affinities  apparently  to  V.  lectUsima. 

Verrucaria  prsostans  (Nyl.) 

Verrucaria  papillifera,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus    pallide    cinereus    tenuissimus;    apothecia    fusca,    fere 


108  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

sphaerica  sessilia  nonnihil  thallodeo-obducta  (apicibus  nudis)  parva 
(latit.  '2  vcl  minora),  perithecio  fere  integro  vel  integro ;  spore 
8nae  incolores  fusiformes  8  -  13  -  septatae,  -05  -  *065  x  -00G  -  '008 
mm;  parapliyses  filiformes.     Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta.     Foliicola. 

Verrucaria  repanda,  sp.  nov.  t 

Th alius  pallidus  vel  pallide  virescens  tenuis,  interdum  vix  ullus 
visibilis;  apotliecia  nigra,  perithecio  duplici,  exteriori  piano  late 
expanso  (latit.  5  —  1*6  mm.)  medio  convexo  et  centro  umbonato, 
interiori  globoso  tenui,  integro  nigro  vel  subtus  pallidiore,  parvo 
(latit.  *2  -  -3  mm.) ;  sporse  8nae  incolores  obtuse  fusiformes  plerum- 
que  crescenticae,  (7  —  16)—  septate,  -07  -  *13  x  -007  —  *012  mm.;  para- 
physes  graciles  filiforcncs.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta.  Gonidia  sub 
perithecio  exteriori  disposita,  virescentia  mediocria  rotunda  vel 
nonnihil  oblonga.     Foliicola. 


FUNGILLI? 

Opercularia  firma. 

Thallus  pallide  vel  sordide  virescens  tenuis  luevigatus,  mem- 
branaceus  vel  papyraceus;  apotliecia  nigra  vemiciformia  innata 
apicibus  denudatis  non  perforatis  (quantum  scio),  minuta  (latit.  circ. 
•06  mm.  vel  interdum  pauxillum  ampliora),  sparsa  vcl  plura  (3  -  10) 
in  tuberculis  thallinis  congregata;  spora>  in  massa  dcnudata 
numerosae,  incolores  oblongo-fusiformes,  vel  interdum  obovato- 
fusiformes,  3  -  7  —  septatae,  plerumque  4  -  5  —  septataa,  #022  -  -03  x 
•005  -  -007  mm.;  parapliyses  nullae  visibiles.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  non 
tincta.     Foliicola. 

Beneath  the  membranous  pellucid  epithallus  there  is  a  layer  of 
gonidia  of  a  green  colour,  and  round  or  oblong  in  shape  (longit. 
•006  -  -011  mm.);  cells  resembling  spermatia  have  been  seen  in  the 
field  of  tho  microscope,  fusiform  and  generally  curved,  *015  x  '0015 
mm. 

The  question  arises,  is  this  organism  a  fungus  parasitic  on  the 
thallus  of  a  lichen,  or  is  it  a  lichen  on  its  own  proper  thallus.  The 
same  thallus  has  been  repeatedly  seen  on  several  leaves,  but  with 
no  other  fruit  than  that  just  described. 

According  to  modern  notions  of  classification,  almost  everything 
tends  towards  the  supposition  that  the  plant  is  a  parasitic  fungus. 
The  absence  of  parapliyses,  thecal,  the  negative  reactions  by  means 
of  iodine,  as  well  as  the  well  defined  spore-septa,  are  all  in  favour  of 
this ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  characteristic  thallus  can  be  easily 


Dr.  Jas.  Stirton  on  Lichens  growing  on  Li  ring  Leaves.     109 

stripped  off  the  leaf,  carrying  with  it  the  fruit,  which  has  no  apparent 
relation  to  the  structure  of  the  leaf. 

Nematidia  excelsior. 

Thallus  pallide  yirescens  laevigatas  tenuis  membranaceus ;  apo- 
thecia  extus  fusca  convexula,  rotunda  vel  ellipsoidea,  *5  x  *2  mm., 
superne  tegumenta  compacta  cfformantia,  basi  deficientia ;  sporae  a 
membrana  basillari  pellucida  oriundse,  numerosae,  denudatae,  incolores 
cylindraceac  curvatae  vel  etiam  contortae,  -15  -  -3  x  -003  -  '004:  mm., 
(30  -  60)  -  septataa.  Gonidia  virescentia  oblonga  mediocria  in  line  is 
radiantibus  sita  et  sub  cpithallo  stratum  continuum  efformantia. 
Foliicola. 

Nematidia  tenella. 

Thallus  pallide  vel  sordide  virescens  tenuis  membranaceus; 
apothecia  fusca  vel  fusco-nigra  (latit.  circ.  *4  mm.)  plana,  margine 
albido  vel  pallido-lutescente,  lato  laevigato  prominulo  cincta,  primum 
eodem  fere  obtocta  ;  caetera,  ut  in  praecedente ;  sporae  a  membrana 
basilar i  pellucida  (iodo  vinoso-rufescente  vel  vinoso-fulvescente) 
oriundae,  numerosae  denudatae,  cylindraceae,  simplices,  *1  -  "2  x  "0025 
-  -003  mm.  Gonidia  sat  copiosa  virescentia  rotunda  vel  oblonga 
mediocria  irregularitcr  disposita. 

Lichens  gathered  in  Upper  Chili  by  Mr.  John  King. 

Everniopsis?  trulla  (Ach.) 

In  this  lichen  the  medullary  stratum  is  very  thin,  and  is 
composed  of  bundles  of  slender  fibres,  about  '002  mm.  in  diameter, 
enveloped  in  a  stiff  jelly.  The  fibres  can  be  easily  separated  and 
isolated  by  K.,  especially  after  pressure  between  slips  of  glass.  In 
this  respect  the  lichen  differs  from  Everniopsis,  as  described  by 
Nylander  (Syn.,  p.  374),  otherwise  the  characters  are  nearly  identical, 
although  it  is  smaller.  The  thallus  is  rugose  beneath,  and  the 
paraphyses  very  indistinct.  There  is  besides  a  glaucous  tint  above, 
instead  of  the  straw  colour. 

In  view  of  such  differences,  which  involve  almost  generic  distinc- 
tions between  Everniopsis  and  Parmelia,  it  might  be  as  well  to 
revert,  meanwhile,  to  the  latter  genus,  and  to  distinguish  the 
present  lichen  under  the  name  Parmelia  truUifera. 

PhyBcia  thysanodes,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  aurantiaco-miniatus  vel  miniatus  (K.  purpurascens)  fere 
omurino  anguste  laciniato-divisus,  laciniis  adscendentibus  planis 
lineoribuB    (longit.  '5-1*7  mm.;  latit.   '1  -  '3  mm.)    vel    sursum 


110  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

nonnihil  dilatatis  aliquoties  divisis,  divisionibas  apice  retusis 
vel  seme]  vel  bis  plus  minus  profunda  bifidis,  subtus  concolor  vel 
subsimilis ;  apothecia  concoloria  plana  (latit.  *3  -  *6  mm.),  margine 
integro  pallidiore  cincta;  sporae  8n®  incolores  oblongse  polari- 
biloculares  (tubulo  jungente  brevissimo),  '012-  *016  x  -00G  -  -007 
mm;  parapbyses  distinct®  apicibus  clavatis  fulvis  parce  granuloso- 
inspersis  (K.  persistenter  roseo-tinctis).  Iodo  gel.  hym.  coerulescens. 
Corticola. 

Affinis  Ph.  cymbaliferas,  sed  multo  minor,  <fec. 

Lecanora  thelephora,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  albus  vel  albidus  crassus  (alt.  1-3  mm.),  papillas 
proferens  crassulas  stalacticas  erectas,  ssepius  stipitatas,  simplices 
vel  rarius  semel  divisas  (K.-C.  aurantiaco-rufas);  apothecia  sub- 
stipitata  concava  vel  planiuscula  (latit.  circ.  *7  mm.)  in  apicibus 
papillarum  expansis  insidentia,  margine  thallino  cincta,  intus 
coerulescentia,  supra  intensius  tincta;  spora  8nae  incolores 
ellipsoide®  simplices,  '008-  *011  x'-005  -  "007  mm.;  paraphyses  non 
bene  distinctce  apicibus  coerulescentibus;  hypothecium  incolor. 
Iodo  gel.  hym.  intense  coerulescens.     Saxicola. 

Lecanora  erioides,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  prostratus,  citrinus,  crassiusculus,  molliusculus,  floccu- 
losus  vel  fere  spongiosus,  ambitu  nonnihil  lobatus  (EL  -  );  apothecia 
concoloria  vel  passim  aurantiaca  innata  vel  innato-sessilia,  plana 
vel  convexiuscula  mediocria  (latit.  4-1  mm.)  vix  marginata;  spone 
incolores  obtuse  fusiform es,  3-septatac,  -012- -017  x  -003  —  *0035 
mm. ;  paraphyses  irregulares,  non  confertae  apicibus  incoloribus ; 
hypothecium  incolor.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  vinose  rubescens.  Ad  ramos 
arborum. 

It  is  somewhat  doubtful  whether  this  lichen  is  a  Lecanora, 
inasmuch  as  no  spermogonia  have  been  detected. 

Lecanora  bullifera,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  crassiusculus  bullato-squamulosus,  squamulis  contiguis 
vel  interdum  concretis,  crasse  albido-pulverulontis  sed  detritis 
aurantiaco-fulvis  vel  aurantiaco-rufis  (K.  purpurascentibus);  apo- 
thecia aurantiaco-rufa  vel  coccinea,  primum  in  bullis  innata  et 
parva,  demum  expansa  et  fere  sessilia  plana  marginata  biatorina 
mediocria  (latit.  *2  —  '8  mm.);  spore  8nae  incolores  oblongse  1  —  septate 
interdum  simplices,  *012-'018x  '0045  -  '0055  mm. ;  paraphyses 
crassiusculte  distinct®  (latit.  '0025— '003  mm.),  articulate,  apicibus 
incoloribus  incrassatulis  articulatis,  granulis  fulvis  creberriter  in- 


Dr.  Jas.  Stirton  on  Lichens  growing  on  Living  Leaves.     Ill 

spersis  (K.   rubentibus) ;   hypothecium  incolor.     Iodo  gel.   hym. 
ccerulescens.     Gonidia  ccerulescentia  majuscula.     Saxicola. 

Pertusaria  melanospora  (Nyl.) 

Forma  parvior  sporis  (2  —  4)nis  rarissime  6nis,  *05  —  '075  x  *028  — 
•045  mm.,  apotheciis  parvioribus  vix  elevatis.  Spermatia  acicu- 
laria  curvula  vel  geniculata,  #017  —  '024  x  g0005  mm. 

Lectularia  perrimosa,  gen.  nov. 

Thallus  cinereo-fuscus  vel  nigro-fuscus  laevigatas  determinatus, 
8quamuloso-concretus  (squamulis  appositis  concavis  raarginibus 
evertis),  madefactus  cinereo-virescens  et  tunc  squamulis  planis, 
(K.  -  C.  sordide  erythrinosis) ;  apothecia  innata  vel  madefacta 
innate-sessilia,  verruciformia  hemisphaerica,  nigra,  parva  (latit. 
•2  -  *3  mm.),  peritbecio  nigro  laterali,  supra  convergent©  et  nonnihil 
radiato-stiiato,  cpitbecio  rotundato,  madefacto  (latit.  *1  -  *15  mm.); 
sporse  (4— 8)naj  incolores  dein  fuscse,  vetuste  fere  nigra*,  ellip- 
soidece  murali-divisse,  *022  -  '035  x  g009-  *016  mm. ;  parapbyses 
molliuscula?,  gracillimae,  conferte,  pellucidse  non  bene  distinct®, 
apicibus  fere  incoloribus;  bypotbecium  fere  incolor.  Iodo  gel. 
hym.  non  tincta,  tbecse  rubesccntes.     Saxicola. 

Tbe  hymenium  bas  tbe  firmness  and  consistency  of  a  Lecidea, 
and  differs  accordingly  from  that  of  a  Verrucaria.  Tbe  spores  vary 
much  in  size,  even  in  the  same  specimen,  and  through  age  become 
shrivelled,  as  in  Urceolaria. 

This  lichen,  apart  from  its  black,  firm  peritheciura,  approaches 
closely  in  constitution  to  Urceolaria,  and  bears  the  same  relation- 
ship to  Urceolaria  that  Lecidea  does  to  Lecanora. 

Lecidea  Kitensis,  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  fuscus,  castaneo-fuscus  vel  fusco-niger  crassiusculus 
areolatus,  areolis  gibboso-convexis,  nitescens  vel  albido-pruinosus 
(fere  sicut  in  L.  fusco-atra)  ;  apothecia  nigra  sessilia  parva  (latit. 
circ.  *25  mm.),  plana  vel  convexula  marginata ;  spores  8nae  fuscse 
oblongae  1  -  septate,  -009  —  '011  x  *004  -  -0055  mm. ;  parapbyses  non 
distinct®  conglutinate  apicibus  clavatis  ccerulesccntibus ;  hypo- 
thecium incolor  vel  leviter  fuscescens.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  ccerulescens, 
thee®  sordide  violacese,  pnesertim  vacuse.     Saxicola. 


112  Philosophical  Society  of  Gla.^oir. 


XII. — The  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors  and  their  Influence  upon 
Digestion  and  Nutrition.  By  J.  J.  Coleman,  Esq.,  F.I.C., 
F.C/.S. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  April  17,  187S.] 


A  liquid  resembling  in  appearance  British  porter,  and  labelled 
Malt  Extract,  has  been  sent  to  us  from  Germany  during  the  last 
few  years.     It  is  retailed  by  pharmaceutical  chemists. 

Some  remarkable  statements  arc  set  forth  by  Joh.  Hofl^  the 
vendor  of  this  preparation.  It  is  affirmed  to  have  been  in  use  in 
nearly  all  the  royal  courts  of  Europe ;  that  it  has  been  honourably 
mentioned  by  four  emperors,  four  kings,  and  a  dozen  or  two  of 
royal  princes;  and  that  it  is  sold  by  upwards  of  five  thousand 
agents,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  European  continent.  Our  esteemed 
President,  Dr.  Fergus,  brought  it  under  my  notice  about  twelve 
months  ago,  and  acquainted  me  with  the  fact  of  its  having  in 
many  cases  coming  under  his  own  observation  proved  of  service 
in  restoring  the  energies  of  individuals  suffering  from  faulty 
nutrition. 

Suffering  at  that  time  from  an  attack  of  broncliitis,  which  had 
not  only  reduced  strength,  but  brought  on  extreme  exhaustion  from 
inability  to  appropriate  food,  I  tried  the  effect  of  Huff's  malt  extract, 
in  the  usual  dose  of  a  wincglassful  two  or  three  times  a  day.  Its 
use  was  followed  by  marked  effects, — 1st,  Food  which  had  hitherto 
been  found  to  pass  the  alimentary  canal  uncliangcd  digested  pro- 
perly; 2nd,  There  appeared  an  increased  power  of  evolving  animal 
heat  and  storing  up  fat. 

Passing  beyond  personal  experience,  I  have  experimented  with  it 
in  other  directions,  particularly  upon  thin,  cold,  and  aged  people, 
who  are  unanimous  in  attributing  to  the  liquid  sustaining  powers 
which  are  not  commonly  observed  with  alcoholic  liquors: 

It  was  therefore  with  considerable  interest  that  I  undertook 
its  chemical  examination.  The  mean  result  of  a  number  of  analyses 
showed  it  to  consist  of — 


Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman  on  tlw  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors.  113 


Alcohol, 

Extractive  matter, 
Water, 


4*00 

812 

87*88 

100*00 


On  evaporating  to  dryness  and  incinerating,  there  was  obtained 
of  ash  residue  *05  per  cent.,  calculated  upon  the  liquid. 

The  preparation  is  therefore  a  variety  of  porter  or  beer,  as  will 
easily  be  seen  from  reference  to  the  analysis  of  a  number  of  well- 
known  beers.  In  appearance,  however,  it  resembles  porter  rather 
than  beer. 


Alcohol. 

Extract 

Water. 

Authority. 

HofFs  malt  extract, 

4-00 

812 

87*88 

Coleman 

Royal  Bavarian  bock  beer,     . 

4-00 

7*20 

88*80 

Kaiser. 

„      Salvator         „ 

4-20 

8  00 

87-80 

ti 

London  beer, 

4-50 

5-00 

9050 

Average. 

,,        porter, 

400 

4-50 

9150 

ft 

Edinburgh  ale, 

4-41 

3-58 

92  01 

Paul. 

In  fact,  it  reminds  one  of  the  royal  beers  of  Bavaria,  the  analysis 
of  which  it  closely  resembles.  These  beers  were  very  lovingly 
dwelt  upon  by  Liebig,  who  uses  the  following  words  : — "The  beers 
of  England  and  France,  and  for  the  most  part  those  of  Germany, 
become  gradually  sour  by  contact  with  the  air.  This  defect  does 
not  belong  to  the  beers  of  Bavaria,  which  may  be  preserved  at 
pleasure  in  half-full  casks  without  alteration  in  the  air.  This 
precious  quality  must  be  ascribed  to  a  peculiar  process  employed  for 
fermenting  the  wort — that  is,  fermentation  from  below — which  has 
solved  one  of  the  finest  chemical  problems."  Without  committing 
myself  to  any  hypothetical  views  upon  the  nature  of  the  process 
which  has  evolved  the  product,  or  as  to  its  identity  or  non-identity 
with  those  celebrated  Bavarian  beers,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the 
liquid  imported  varies  a  little  in  its  tendency  to  turn  sour.  Some- 
times it  will  not  do  so  if  exposed  for  weeks;  other  samples  have 
turned  sour  with  but  slight  exposure. 

Referring  again  to  the  analysis  of  the  liquid,  there  are  two  points 
to  which  I  wish  to  direct  attention. 

The  word  "malt  extract"  is  by  common  consent  of  chemists 
applied  to  that  portion  of  a  malt  liquor  which  either  has  not  been 
fermented  into  alcohol,  or  which,  after  fermentation,  has  escaped 
conversion  into  alcohol.  Further,  malt  extract  is  a  solid,  and  is 
obtained  by  evaporating  the  liquids  containing  it  to  dryness.     It 

Vol.  XL— No.  1.  i 


114  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

will  be  seen  therefore  that  Hoff's  liquid  is  something  more  than 
"malt  extract/'  for  it  contains  besides  this  body  alcohol  and  the 
usual  quantity  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  which  causes  any  ordinary 
fermented  liquid  to  froth  up  when  liberated  from  the  bottles  con- 
taining it.  In  fact,  the  presence  of  large  quantities  of  carbonic  acid 
gas  in  Hoff's  liquid  shows  that  its  alcohol  has  been  produced  by 
internal  fermentation.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  this  liquid  of  Hoff's 
produces  on  evaporation  to  dryness  an  extract  which  differs  from 
the  solid  extract  usually  obtained  from  British  beers.  Malt  extract 
obtained  from  such  sources  contains  a  large  percentage  of  crystallis- 
able  sugar,  whilst  that  from  Hoff's  liquid  is  almost  entirely  con- 
stituted of  the  dark -brown  uncrystallisable  extractive  matter 
present,  but  in  less  proportion,  in  the  beers  of  this  country. 

It  will  therefore  be  convenient  to  call  this  preparation  merely 
Hoff's  liquid,  rather  than  lead  to  confusion  by  retaining  the  name 
it  is  commonly  known  by. 

With  the  information  gained  by  its  analysis,  the  question  arises, 
To  what  constituents  of  Hoff's  liquid  are  to  be  attributed  its 
marked  physiological  effects?  There  are,  no  doubt,  some  people 
who  will  be  inclined  to  say  that  the  value  of  the  liquid  is  its  con- 
tained alcohol.  There  are,  no  doubt,  others  who  would  strenuously 
deny  this.  The  question  of  the  nutritive  value  of  alcohol  has  been 
ably  dealt  with  by,  amongst  others,  two  very  distinguished  men, 
viz.,  Dr.  B.  W.  Richardson,  F.RS.,  and  Dr.  Edward  Smith,  F.R.S., 
— not  from  a  theoretical  standpoint,  but  from  that  of  laborious 
experiment. 

Dr.  Edward  Smith  administered,  either  to  himself  or  one  of  his 
assistants,  weighed  quantities  of  food,  selected  from  the  fatty,  the 
starchy,  or  the  albuminous  articles  of  diet.  He  carefully  noted  the 
effect  of  these  varied  foods  upon  the  function  of  respiration.  That 
is,  taking  hold  of  the  well-established  principle  that  animal  heat  is 
produced  by  the  oxidation  of  food  by  means  of  air  drawn  into  the 
lungs,  he  collected  and  analysed  the  products  of  respiration  with 
the  view  to  ascertaining  to  what  extent  and  how  soon  the  carbon  of 
the  food  is  eliminated  from  the  lungs  in  the  form  of  carbonic 
acid. 

It  would  be  out  of  the  question  quoting  all  Dr.  Edward  Smith's 
results,  which  have  been  embodied  in  a  number  of  papers  read  to 
the  Royal  Society;  but  this  is  what  he  says  about  brandy: — "One 
and  a  half  ounce  of  excellent  brandy  diluted  with  six  ounces  of 
water  caused  an  average  decrease  of  0*2  grain  in  the  carbonic  acid 
expired  per  minute. "     In  another  experiment  the  average  decrease 


Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman  on  tlie  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors.  115 

was  0*38  grain.     The  quantity  of  air  inspired  fell  42,  37,  and  34 
cubic  inches  per  minute  in  different  experiments. 

In  regard  to  whisky  he  remarks,  "One  and  a  half  ounce  of 
whisky,  containing  forty-five  per  cent,  of  alcohol  in  six  ounces  of 
cold  water,  caused  an  average  decrease  in  the  carbonic  acid  expired 
of  '33  grain  per  minute."  Let  us  compare  these  results  with  what 
was  obtained  from  the  same  weight  of  sugar. 

He  says,  "  One  and  a  half  ounce  of  sugar  dissolved  in  water  gave 
a  maximum  increase  in  the  carbonic  acid  evolved  of  2*18  grains  per 
minute,  and  an  increase  in  the  air  inspired  of  111  cubic  inches  per 
minute. "  We  are  thus  shown  that  if  by  food  is  to  be  understood 
substance  that  acts  as  fuel  to  the  system  by  being  burnt  into  car- 
bonic acid  and  water,  then  no  chemical  evidence  can  be  obtained 
that  alcohol  has  a  right  to  be  called  food. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  the  evidence  of  Dr.  Richardson.  He  says, 
"  It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  recount  the  details  of  the  long 
researches,  extending  with  intervals  over  three  years,  and  which 
were  conducted  in  my  laboratory,  to  determine  the  influence  of 
alcohol  upon  animal  temperature.  The  facts  obtained  may  be 
epitomised  as  follows : — The  first  effect  of  taking  alcohol  is  the  stage 
of  excitement — viz.,  a  rise  of  temperature  of  about  half  a  degree, 
especially  on  the  cutaneous  surface.  This  might  be  considered  as 
due  to  the  combustion  of  alcohol.  It  is  not  so ;  it  is  in  truth 
a  process  of  cooling. 

"  During  this  stage,  which  is  comparatively  brief,  the  internal 
temperature  is  declining,  and  the  reddened  skin  is  so  far  reduced  in 
tone  that  cold  applied  thereto  increases  the  suffusion.  It  is  this 
most  deceptive  stage  which  led  old  observers  into  the  error  that 
alcohol  warms  the  body.  In  the  second  stage  the  temperature  first 
comes  down  to  its  natural  standard,  and  then  declines  below 
what  is  natural.  In  man  this  fall  is  represented  by  three-fourths 
of  a  degree.  During  the  third  stage  the  fall  in  temperature  rapidly 
increases,  and  amounts  in  man  to  as  much  as  two  and  a  half  degrees, 
and  in  birds  to  fully  five  and  a  half  degrees.  There  is  always 
during  this  stage  a  profound  coma,  and  whilst  this  lasts  the  temper- 
ature continues  reduced.  The  sleep  of  apoplexy  and  the  sleep  of 
drunkenness  may  be  distinguished  by  a  marked  difference  in  animal 
temperature.  In  apoplexy  the  temperature  of  the  body  is  above, 
in  drunkenness  below  the  natural  standard  of  98°.  What,"  exclaims 
Dr.  Richardson,  "  is  the  inference  ?  It  is  that  alcohol  is  not  burned 
after  the  manner  of  food  which  supports  animal  combustion,  but 
that  it  is  decomposed  into  secondary  products  by  oxidation,  at  the 


116  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

expense  of  the  oxygen  which  ought  to  be  applied  to  the  natural 
heating  of  the  body." 

This  concensus  of  evidence,  coupled  with  the  general  experience 
that  the  so-called  warming  up  effects  of  a  dose  of  alcohol,  when 
taken  upon  an  empty  stomach,  is  followed  by  a  reaction  in  about 
forty  minutes,  goes  far  to  prove  that  the  permanent  warming  up 
effects  of  HofF's  liquid  cannot  be  owing  to  its  contained  alcohol. 
But  supposing  alcohol  is  not  a  direct  food,  may  it  not  be  a  fat- 
forming  food?  This  question  has  been  dealt  with  by  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson. He  remarks  in  his  Cantor  Lectures,  "Notoriously  ale 
and  beer  fatten,  but  this  fattening  may  not  be  due  to  the 
alcohol  itself,  but  to  the  sugar  or  starchy  matters  which  are  taken 
with  it." 

Dr.  Richardson  evidently  sees  a  difficulty  here,  but  offers  an 
insufficient  explanation.     In  the  latter  part  of  this  paper  I  will  show 
how  the  difficulty  can  be  dealt  with,  but  meanwhile  note  what  he 
says  : — "  Alcohol,  when  it  is  largely  taken,  unless  the  will  of  the 
imbiber  is  very  powerful,  is  wont  to  induce  desire  for  undue  sleep, 
or  at  least  desire  for  physical  repose.     Under  such  circumstances 
there  is   an  interference  with  ordinary  nutritive  processes.     The 
wasted  products  of  nutrition  are  imperfectly  eliminated,  the  respi- 
ration becomes  slower  and  less  effective,  and  there  is  set  up  a  series 
of  changes  tending,  independently  of  the  alcohol  as  a  direct  producer 
of  fat,  to  development  and  deposit  of  fatty  tissue  in  the  body."   Now 
this  storing  up  of  fat  referred  to  by  Dr.  Richardson,  which  occurs 
with  those  who  abuse  alcoholic  liquors,  is  a  very  different  matter  to 
the  healthy  nutrition  which  exists  by  one  who  has  benefited  by 
drinking  Hoff's  liquid  in  small  doses,  or  from  the  daily  swallowing 
of  a  glass  of  London  porter.      There  is  a  distinct  nutritive  effect 
produced  in  some  cases  of  this  kind  which  cannot  be  attributed  to 
the  influence  of  the  alcohol  contained  in  the  liquid.     I  have  heard 
married  ladies  declare  that  whilst  suckling  their  strength  would 
have  succumbed  had   it  not  been  for   the  sustaining  effects  of  a 
bottle  of  porter  taken   daily.      Evidence  of  this  kind,  which    I 
believe  is  very  common,  is  most  important.     The  maternal  instinct 
is  far  too  strong  to  leave  in  doubt  a  problem  which  so  materially 
affects  the   welfare   of  her  offspring.     I  am  not  going  to  argue 
that  fatness  is  to  be  considered  in  all  cases  a  desirable  condition, 
but   the  very  appearance    of  a   score   of  beer-drinking  English- 
men,  as   compared  with   an  equal    number    of   whisky-drinking 
Scotchmen,  is  an  indication   of  some  specific  effect  which  malt 
liquors  have  upon  nutrition.      Going  a  step  farther  in  this  in- 


Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman  on  tlie  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors.  117 

quiry,  let  us  ignore  the  evidence  of  Dr.  Edward  Smith  and  Dr. 
Richardson.  We  have  no  right  to  do  so,  but  for  the  moment  let 
it  be  admitted  that  alcohol  is  a  food.  Let  us  take  typical  cases,  on 
the  one  hand,  of  a  person  imbibing  a  tumbler  of  porter  every  day, 
on  the  other  hand  of  a  person  swallowing  HofTs  liquid  daily,  in 
accordance  with  the  direction  upon  the  label.  The  alcohol  con- 
tained in  the  daily  dose  of  HofTs  liquid  will  weigh  about  100  grains, 
the  extractive  matter  will  weigh  200  grains.  Without  going  into 
the  minutiae  of  chemical  calculation,  it  may  be  stated  that  these 
substances  contain  about  half  their  weight  of  carbon.  Now,  what 
proportion  does  this  150  grains  bear  to  the  total  carbon  consumed 
per  day  by  an  average  man  ?  Liebig,  Playfair,  and  others  have 
given  us  data.  An  average  man  consumes  from  4,000  to  6,000 
grains  of  carbon  per  day ;  so  that  the  quantity  contained  in  the 
daily  dose  of  HofTs  liquid  does  not  amount  to  more  than  three 
per  cent,  of  one's  ordinary  daily  diet.  In  the  case  of  a  tumblerful  of 
London  porter,  containing  say  four  per  cent,  of  alcohol  and  fivo  per 
cent,  of  extractive  matter,  the  contained  carbon  would  amount  to 
about  200  grains,  or  about  four  per  cent,  of  an  average  day's  diet. 
But  a  more  familiar  illustration  may  be  offered.  The  whole  of 
the  food  value  of  a  glass  of  porter  cannot  exceed  Hie  weight  of  sugar 
equivalent  to  its  alcohol  or  extractive  matter,  or  about  one  ounce, 
whilst  most  people  consume  three  ounces  of  sugar  daily,  employed 
in  sweetening  tea,  coffee,  puddings,  or  fruits. 

These  figures,  if  we  are  to  believe  Drs.  Smith  and  Richardson, 
show  the  food  value  of  the  liquids  in  too  favourable  a  light,  but  even 
in  the  form  I  have  just  given  them,  they  are  utterly  insufficient 
to  account  for  their  marked  physiological  effects,  which  are  fre- 
quently the  sensation  of  being  lifted  from  a  feeling  of  semi- 
starvation  to  the  condition  of  being  effectually  warmed  and 
nourished,  and  are  incomprehensible  from  a  chemical  analysis  of 
the  liquids. 

But  although  these  liquids  have  no  food  value  of  any  importance, 
may  they  not  have  the  power  of  influencing  the  digestion  of  otfier 
Jood  ?  If  the  extractive  matter  of  beer  and  porter  be  really  malt 
extract — that  is,  if  it  possesses  the  qualities  of  original  malt — then 
the  question  is  answered  affirmatively.  It  is  well  known  that  if  luke- 
warm water  be  poured  upon  fresh-bruised  malt,  a  certain  principle 
•dissolves,  which,  from  the  difficulty  of  separating  it  in  the  pure  state, 
has  hitherto  evaded  chemical  analysis.  This  substance,  called  dias- 
tase, is  a  ferment,  being  capable  of  converting  an  indefinite  quantity 
of  insoluble  starch,  through  the  stages  of  soluble  starch  and  dextrin, 


118  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgoic. 

into  the  final  product,  glucose  or  grape  sugar.  The  brewer  knows 
perfectly  well  that  one  part  of  malt  contains  sufficient  diastase  to 
render  soluble  and  convert  into  grape  sugar  the  starch  of  four  or 
five  times  its  weight  of  barley.  Indeed,  the  first  stage  of  brewing 
beer  or  porter — viz.,  the  preparation  of  the  wort — is  simply  con- 
verting by  the  aid  of  diastase  a  certain  quantity  of  starch  into 
sugar,  which  dissolves  in  the  warm  water  of  the  mash,  and  is  then 
converted  into  alcohol  by  the  process  of  fermentation  by  the  yeast 
cell.  When  the  starch  has  become  entirely  converted  into  sugar — 
an  operation  which  requires  that  the  temperature  shall  not  exceed 
180°  Fahr. — then  the  wort  is  raised  to  the  boiling  point,  the  hops  at 
the  same  time  being  added.  The  object  of  this  operation  is  stated  in 
our  text  books  to  be,  first,  the  destruction  of  the  diastase,  which  has 
served  its  purpose ;  secondly,  the  precipitation  of  albuminous  com- 
pounds likely  to  interfere  with  the  keeping  qualities  of  the  beer. 
The  diastase  is  believed  to  be  destroyed  at  the  boiling  tempera- 
ture, and  the  liquid  ready  for  a  new  fermentation  by  the  agency 
of  yeast,  at  least  as  soon  as  it  cools  down  to  the  proper  temperature 
for  the  second  fermentation. 

Hence  it  might  be  concluded  a  priori  that  it  is  impossible  for  malt 
liquors,  as  sold  to  the  public,  to  contain  diastase.  It  may  be  so, 
but  the  nature  of  these  ferments  are  very  obscure.  It  occurred  to 
me  that  the  extractive  matter  of  our  ordinary  malt  liquors  might 
contain  the  element  of  a  ferment  in  some  latent  form,  ready  to  be 
called  into  activity  during  the  process  of  digestion. 

The  importance  of  such  an  agent  may  be  estimated,  when  it  is 
considered  that  starch  forms  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  diet  of 
man;  that  in  its  natural  state,  or  even  when  boiled,  it  is  not  soluble 
in  the  sense  of  being  capable  of  absorption  through  a  membrane 
(although  it  may  become  pasty  or  sticky) ;  and  that  before  it  can  be 
absorbed  by  the  assimilative  organs  it  must  become  soluble. 

Starch  constitutes  47*4  per  cent,  of  wheaten  bread,  58*4  per  cent, 
of  oatmeal,  18*8  per  cent,  of  potatoes,  66*3  per  cent,  of  wheaten  flour, 
79*1  per  cent,  of  rice,  and  82  per  cent,  of  arrow-root,  so  that  the 
whole  matter  seems  of  sufficient  importance  to  merit  careful  experi- 
ment. It  is  obvious  that  if  malt  liquors  exert  a  solvent  action  upon 
starch,  the  phenomena  can  be  investigated  external  to  the  stomach, 
provided  the  necessary  temperature  and  other  conditions  of  the 
animal  digestion  be  imitated.  Such  experiments  have  been  con- 
ducted, not  only  with  Hoff's  liquid,  but  with  ordinary  beers  and 
porters. 

The  general  method  of  procedure  was  to  digest  weighed  quantities 


Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman  on  the  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors.  119 

of  bread  or  potatoes  with  measured  quantities  of  the  liquid  I  wished 
to  examine,  at  blood  heat,  for  the  required  number  of  hours;  fresh 
water  was  then  added,  to  bring  the  bulk  of  the  original  mixture 
exactly  to  its  initial  measurement ;  the  semi-fluid  liquid  was  then 
either  filtered  or  dialysed,  and  a  fractional  part  evaporated  to  dry- 
ness, or  examined  in  other  ways  to  determine  the  total  solids  dis- 
solved. Simultaneously  with  each  determination  a  blank  experiment 
was  made  with  pure  bread  or  potatoes  and  water,  so  as  to  ensure 
comparisons  being  made  under  precisely  identical  conditions. 

The  latter  precaution  was  especially  necessary,  as  scarcely  two 
samples  of  bread  are  alike  as  to  their  soluble  constituents.  By 
digesting  ordinary  bread  two  or  three  days  with  warm  water,  it 
becomes  soluble  to  the  extent  of  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent.,  and  in  a 
short  time  becomes  slightly  putrid.  Under  such  circumstances  it 
is  not  unusual  for  the  starch  to  become  partially  soluble  by  contact 
action  with  the  decomposing  gluten. 

This  fact  was  borne  in  mind  most  carefully  from  the  very  first, 
and  in  fact  made  the  blank  experiments  absolutely  necessary  every 
time  a  fresh  comparison  had  to  be  made. 

Some  of  the  experiments  were  conducted  with  ordinary  beers  and 
porters,  as  brought  from  neighbouring  public-houses;  but  I  am  in- 
debted to  the  courtesy  of  Messrs.  Bass  <fc  Co.,  Messrs.  Allsopp  <fc  Co., 
Messrs.  Truman,  Hanbury  &  Co.,  and  Messrs.  Bates  &  Co.,  for 
samples  sent  me  direct  from  their  respective  breweries. 

Series  I. 

50  Grammes  of  bread  were  digested  at  blood  heat  for  six  hours 
with  250  cc.  of  water,  and  then  dialysed  into  500  cc.  of  water.  A 
fractional  portion  of  the  dialysed  fluid  was  evaporated  to  dryness, 
to  determine  the  total  solids,  and  another  portion  was  examined 
volumetrically  for  glucose  by  the  cupric  test.  This  formed  the 
blank  bread  experiment. 

Total  Solids.         Grape  Sugar. 
Grammes.  Grammes. 

A. — Blank  bread  experiment  yielded  .  1  '10  '40 

B.—  60  grammes  of  Hoffa  liquid  yielded  by 

dialysing  with  the  same  quantity  of 

water, liO  '36 

Sum,     .        .        .       2-20  -76 

A  and  B  mixed  together,  and  then  treated  as 

in  the  blank  experiment,  ...        2*20  '69 

A  and  B  mixed  together,  treated  as  in  the 
blank  experiment,  but  with  the  ad- 
dition of  a  few  drops  of  hydrochloric 
acid, 220  -68 


120  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

These  experiments  were  made  simultaneously,  and  under  exactly- 
similar  conditions,  but  the  results  did  not  give  me  any  encourage- 
ment. They  are,  however,  interesting  in  one  point  of  view :  they 
show  what  a  small  amount  of  crystalloids  can  be  obtained  from  the 
dialysis  of  bread  and  water. 

For  a  second  series  of  experiments  mashed  potatoes  were  used ; 
but  in  place  of  using  Graham's  dialysers,  through  the  membranes 
of  which  dextrin  will  scarcely  permeate,  the  semi-fluid  masses  were 
simply  thrown  upon  a  filter,  no  difficulty  being  experienced  in 
getting  perfectly  clear  filtrates. 


Series  II. 

100  Grammes  of  mashed  potatoes  were  digested  for  six  hours  at 
blood  heat  with  500  cc.  of  water,  and  then  filtered — a  fractional 
part  of  the  filtrate,  after  dilution  to  the  original  bulk,  being  eva- 
porated to  dryness  for  the  purpose  of  estimating  the  dissolved 
solids. 

Grammes  of 
Dissolved  Solids. 

A. — Blank  experiment,  conducted  as  above,  yielded        .        4*86 
B. — 60  grammes  Hoff's  liquid  yielded      .        .        .        .        5*00 


Sum, 9-86 

A  mixed  with  B,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  experiment,        9*66 

A  mixed  with  B,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  experiment, 

but  with  a  few  drops  of  HC1  extra,         .  .        9 '56 

The  results  were  again  negative,  and  the  matter  was  laid  aside 
for  some  months.  It  then  occurred  to  me  that  in  all  these  experi- 
ments the  conditions  represented  stomachic,  but  not  intestinal, 
digestion.  The  digestion  of  the  stomach  is  always  effected  by 
secretions  which  are  acid,  and  it  is  essentially  a  peptic  or  albu- 
minoid digestion. 

With  the  exception  of  such  action  as  may  ensue  from  contact 
with  the  saliva,  the  starchy  matters  of  the  food  in  great  part  pass 
through  the  stomach  unchanged,  and  do  not  become  digested  until 
they  pass  that  organ  and  come  in  contact  with  the  pancreatic  and 
intestinal  juices,  which  are  always  alkaline.  Bread  has  generally 
an  acid  reaction  sufficiently  distinct  to  affect  litmus.  Malt  liquors 
are  invariably  and  still  more  decidedly  acid ;  so  that,  independently 


Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman  on  the  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors.  121 

of  the  acid  purposely  added  in  some  of  my  experiments,  there  must 
have  been  in  all  cases  a  decided  acid  reaction.  It  was  therefore 
determined  to  re-commence  these  experiments  with  a  slight  alkaline 
reaction,  as  similar  as  possible  to  that  of  the  saliva  or  pancreatic 
juice. 

Series  III 

50  Grammes  of  bread  were  digested  at  blood  heat  with  200  cc. 
of  water,  made  faintly  alkaline  with  sodic  hydrate.  The  total 
dissolved  solids  were  then  estimated,  after  digestion  for  six  hours 
at  blood  heat  and  nitration  in  the  usual  way. 

Dissolved  Solids  ; 
in  Grammes. 

A. — Blank  experiment  yielded 6*00 

B. — 60  Grammes  of  Hoff's  liquid,   exactly  neutralised, 

yielded 5*51 

Sum 11-51 


« 


A  and  B  mixed  together,  and  subjected  to  the  conditions 

of  the  blank  experiment,  yielded  .        .        .        .16*33 


For  the  first  time  there  was  clear  evidence  of  the  correctness  of 
my  surmises,  4*82  grammes  of  the  bread  became  soluble  by  the 
agency  of  the  HofTs  liquid,  or  about  20  per  cent,  of  its  constituent 
starch. 

The  semi-fluid  masses  were  also  dialysed,  with  the  following 
results: — 

Grammes. 

A  contained  of  grape  sugar 26 

B  „  -39 

Sum, -65 

A  and  B  mixed  together,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  ex- 
periment, yielded  of  grape  sugar     .        .        .        .         *98 


Series  IV. 

30  Grammes  of  bread  were  digested  at  blood  heat  for  five  hours 
with  300  cc.  of  water  made  faintly  alkaline,  filtered,  and  the  dis- 
solved solids  determined. 


122  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


Disaohred  Soflda 
in 


A. — Blank  experiment  conducted  as  above,  3*24 

B. — 180  grammes  of  public-house  beer  made  neutral  and 

evaporated,  yielded 13*54 

Sum, 1678 

A  mixed  with  B,  and  then  treated  as  in  the  blank  experi- 
ment, yielded         1900 

It  appears  therefore  that  ordinary  beer  possesses  a  solvent  power 
similar  to  that  of  HofTs  liquid,  but  to  an  inferior  degree. 

Series  V. 

30  Grammes  of  bread  were  digested  for  twelve  hours  at  blood 
heat  with  300  cc.  of  water  made  faintly  alkaline,  filtered,  and  the 
dissolved  solids  determined. 

Dissolved  Solids 
in  Grammes. 

A. — Blank  experiment,  conducted  as  above,  yielded         .        6*22 
B. — 90  grammes  of  HofTs  liquid,  made  neutral  and  eva- 
porated, yielded     7'50 

Sum, 1372 

A  and  B  mixed  together,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  ex- 
periment, yielded 20'73 

A. — Blank  experiment,  conducted  as  above,  yielded         .        6*22 
D. — 180  grammes  of  beer  from  a  public-house,   made 

neutral  and  evaporated,  yielded     .        .  .13*54 

Sum, 19*76 


A  mixed  with  D,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  experiment,      23*30 

In  these  experiments  it  is  demonstrated  that,  with  twenty-four 
hours  digestion,  90  grammes  of  HofTs  liquid  dissolved  50  per  cent, 
of  the  starch  of  30  grammes  of  bread,  and  that  it  requires  four 
times  as  much  beer  to  effect  the  same  result. 

Series  VI. 

Public-house  bottled  porter,  examined  in  the  same  way,  indicated 
six  parts  to  be  equivalent  in  solvent  power  to  one  part  of  HofTs 


Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman  on  the  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors.  123 

liquid.     This  porter  contained,  however,  only  4*7  per  cent,  of  ex- 
tractive matter. 

These  experiments  were  satisfactory ;  the  quantity  of  sodic  or 
potassic  hydrate  added  was  very  minute,  and  regulated  with  the 
utmost  care,  to  avoid  communicating  an  alkalinity  more  than  suffi- 
cient to  imitate*  the  natural  alkalinity  of  the  saliva.  It  was,  how- 
ever, thought  advisable  to  eliminate  doubts  on  this  head  by  a  series 
of  experiments,  in  which  the  alkaline  reaction  was  established  by 
bicarbonate  of  soda,  or  tribasic  phosphate  of  soda. 


Sekies  VII. 

32  Grammes  of  bread  were  digested  for  twenty-four  hours  at 
blood  heat  with  300  cc.  of  water  made  alkaline  by  1  gramme  of 
bicarbonate  of  soda,  and  i  a  gramme  of  tribasic  phosphate  of  soda, 
then  filtered,  and  the  dissolved  solids  determined. 

Dissolved  Solids 
in  Grammes. 

A. — Blank  experiment,  conducted  as  above,  yielded         .        8'16 
B.— 90  grammes  of  Barton  ale,  neutralised  and  evapo- 
rated, yielded        11*60 

Sum, 19-66 


A  and  B  mixed  together,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  ex- 
periment, yielded 21*80 


A. — Blank  experiment,  as  above,  yielded                 .        .  8*16 
C. — 90  grammes  of  London  porter,  neutralised  and  evapo- 
rated to  dryness, 7*66 

Sum, 15-82 


A  mixed  with  C,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  experiment, 

yielded 21-81 


A.— Blank  experiment,  as  above,  yielded .        •        .  8*16 

D.—  90  grammes  of  Wrexham  ale,  neutralised,  yielded  7*20 

Sum, 15-36 


124  Philosophical  Society  oj  Glasgotc. 


Dissolved  Solids 
in 


A  mixed  with  D,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  experiment, 

yielded 1920 


A. — Blank  experiment,  as  above,  yielded         .        .  8*16 
E.— 90  grammes  of  Hoff's  liquid,  neutralised  and  evapo- 
rated, yielded         7  30 

Sam, 15-46 


A  mixed  with  E,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  experiment, 

yielded 2380 


These  experiments  indicate  as  follows,  the  figures  being  calculated 
to  avoid  decimals,  and  to  show  the  amount  of  starch  in  the  bread 
which  became  soluble  by  the  agency  of  the  various  liquors — the 
bread^used  in  each  case  being  of  the  same  weight. 

The  Barton  ale  dissolved  15  per  cent,  of  the  starch. 
London  porter        „  40        ,,  ,, 

Wrexham  ale         „  26        ,,  ,, 

Hoff's  liquid  „  CO        „  „ 

In  an  eighth  series  of  experiments  it  was  determined  to  eliminate 
all  sources  of  error  existing  from  the  action  of  reagents  upon  gluten, 
by  using  pure  starch,  which  would  indeed  have  been  used  earlier 
had  it  not  been  that  this  investigation  was  purposely  undertaken 
to  solve  a  dietetic  problem,  the  conditions  of  which  are  not  the 
swallowing  of  pure  starch. 


Series  VIII. 

15  Grammes  of  starch  mixed  with  300  cc.  of  boiling  water,  so  as 
to  form  a  uniform  paste,  was  made  faintly  alkaline  with  3  grammes 
of  bicarbonate  soda,  and  digested  at  blood  heat  for  twenty-four 
hours.  The  pasty  mass  was  then  diluted  with  water  to  600  cc, 
and  thrown  upon  a  close  filter  of  thick  white  paper.  A  fractional 
portion  of  the  filtrate,  which  was  brilliantly  clear,  was  evaporated 
to  dryness. 


Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman  on  the  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors.  125 


Dissolved  Solids 
in  Grammes. 


A. — Blank  experiment,  conducted  as  above,  yielded        .        5*18 
R— 60   rammea  Barton  ale,  neutralised,  yielded      .        .        8*00 


Sum, 1318 


A  and  B  mixed,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  experiment, 

yielded 14*60 


A.— Blank  experiment,  conducted  as  above,  yielded         .        5*18 
C. — 60  grammes  of  London  porter,  neutralised,  yielded  .        4*28 


9*46 


A  and  C  mixed,  and  treated  as  in  the  blank  experiment, 

yielded 15*01 


This  last  series  of  experiments  is  conclusive,  and  forms  a  fitting 
termination  to  this  stage  of  the  investigation,  which  has  established 
a  food  value  for  malt  liquors  not  generally  understood.  Chemi- 
cally, of  course,  it  is  interesting  to  know  into  what  substance  or 
substances  the  starch  is  transformed,  whether  into  ordinary  dex- 
trin, Bechamp's  soluble  starch,  Dubunfraut's  maltose,  or  ordinary 
glucose. 

These  are  questions  I  do  not  purpose  at  present  going  into;  but 
it  may  be  remarked  that  the  dissolved  solids  partook  more  of  a 
gummy  than  a  saccharine  character.  Neither  have  T  been  able  to 
fix  the  limits  of  the  reactions  with  any  degree  of  certainty ;  but  it 
is  clear — and  this,  physiologically,  is  of  the  utmost  importance — 
that  there  is  a  powerful  solvent  action  exerted  by  all  malt  liquors 
examined,  which,  with  the  peristaltic  and  other  muscular  actions 
of  the  digestive  organs,  has  probably  been  but  poorly  imitated  by 
the  laboratory  experiments  that  have  been  undertaken. 

Another  very  interesting  point  came  out  in  this  inquiry,  viz., 
that  it  was  not  the  ales  richest  in  alcohol  coming  from  our  large 
breweries  which  afforded  the  best  results,  which  may  be  explained 
in  two  ways, — either  from  the  fact  that  in  large  breweries  the 
diastase  of  malt  is  made  to  go  as  far  as  possible  by  using  raw  grain 
with  the  original  malt;  or  secondly,  as  suggested  by  our  Vice- 


126  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

President,  Dr.  Wallace,  from  the  excess  of  alcohol  in  strong  ales 
precipitating  the  diastase  before  it  reaches  the  consumer. 

Before  concluding  this  paper,  I  must  remark  that  the  possibility 
of  malt  in  virtue  of  its  diastase  becoming  a  useful  article  of  food 
was  discussed  many  years  ago.  It  was  supposed  that  cattle  could 
be  made  to  assimilate  their  food  better,  and  fatten  quicker,  by 
mixing  with  their  ordinary  diet  a  certain  percentage  of  malt. 
Mr.  J.  B.  Lawes  conducted  very  elaborate  experiments  for  the 
Board  of  Trade  in  1866,  on  the  relative  values  of  unmalted  and 
malted  barley  for  stock.  These  experiments  showed  that,  with 
healthy  stock,  the  addition  of  malt  to  their  food  produced  no  more 
increase  of  weight  than  the  addition  of  barley  to  which  the  malt 
was  equivalent.  But  this  is  what  might  reasonably  be  expected. 
In  a  healthy  state,  neither  man  nor  animal  requires  more  digestive 
solvent  than  what  is  supplied  naturally.  But  unfortunately  a  large 
percentage  of  our  fellow-men,  especially  the  inhabitants  of  cities, 
are  not  in  a  perfect  state  of  health — nay  more,  vast  numbers,  from 
the  wear  and  tear  of  life,  are  habitual  dyspeptics,  so  that  an  inno- 
cent aid  to  nature  is  sometimes  a  daily  necessity.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  many  people  whose  tendency  to  develop  fat,  or 
secrete  sugar  in  the  form  of  diabetic  urine,  indicates  at  once  that 
nature  requires  no  assistance  by  the  aid  of  such  a  ferment  as 
diastase. 

Lastly,  a  word  or  two  as  to  the  alcohol  of  malt  liquors.     We 
have  seen,  in  the  early  part  of  this  paper,  that  it  has  no  claim  to  be 
called  a  food.     It  may  be  reasonably  asked,  Is  it  of  any  use  what- 
ever?   I  think  so.     It  is  a  stimulant.     It  will  be  asserted  by  some 
that,  so  far  from  stimulants  being  of  any  use,  they  are  actually 
unnecessary  and   hurtful.      In  truth,   however,  man's   existence 
embraces  a  continual  succession   of    stimuli,   either  physical   or 
mental ;  and  it  will  always  be  so,  unless  the  system  is  brought 
to  the  dull  level  of  the  brute,  that  knows  no  stimulus  but  the 
stick  of  the  drover.     I   have  stood  by  a  massive  engine,  with 
cylinders,  valves,  and  gear  all  complete,  and   the  motor  power 
steam  turned  on,  but  which  remained  silent  and  immovable  until 
a  gentle  stimulus,  applied  to  the  circumference  of  the  fly-wheel, 
sent  it  magnificently  into  motion,  ready  to  crush  with  its  power 
the  very  agent  which  started  it.     So  it  is  with  the  powerful  liquid 
alcohol.     Employed  as  a  stimulant,  it  sometimes  with  a  jerk  sets 
into  activity  the  deadened  mechanism  of  the  human  body;  but 
there  its  action  ends,  which  can  only  be  sustained  by  food,  and 
alcohol  is  not  a  food.     In  brief,  alcohol  has  its  uses ;  but  its  per- 


Discussion  on  Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman's  Paper.  127 

rentage  in  some  of  the  malt  liquors  I  have  been  referring  to  might 
be  safely  reduced  to  lower  limits, — indeed  they  could  form  more 
useful  foods  if  their  alcohol  were  reduced  to  just  sufficient  percent- 
age to  preserve  their  other  constituents  from  becoming  decomposed 
and  useless. 


Discussion  on  Mb.  Coleman's  Paper. 

The  Chairman  (Dr.  W.  Wallace),  having  characterised  the  paper 
as  instructive  and  suggestive,  invited  discussion  upon  it 

Dr.  Bell  said  that  his  experience  in  medical  practice  of  HofFs 
extract  of  malt  scarcely  coincided  with  the  results  brought  forward 
by  the  author  of  the  paper,  but  he  had  no  doubt  of  the  dietetic 
value  of  such  extracts  as  ale  and  porter  in  low  states  of  the  system, 
and  was  inclined  to  attribute  not  only  a  stimulating  but  a  nutritive 
power  to  alcohol  when  used  in  small  doses. 

Dr.  A.  K.  Irvine  agreed  with  Dr.  Bell  in  his  views  regarding 
the  nutritive  qualities  of  malt  liquors. 

Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  endorsed  the  opinions  of  the  two  pre- 
vious speakers,  and  dwelt  upon  the  great  importance  of  using 
alcoholic  fluids  with  ordinary  food  in  proper  proportions. 

The  Chairman  asked  whether  in  the  preparation  of  HofTs  extract 
at  any  stage  in  the  process  it  was  boiled,  as  in  the  preparation  of 
most  kinds  of  fermented  liquors;  and  whether  it  contained  any 
extract  of  hops.  He  suggested  that  the  ill  effects  experienced  by 
some  persons  from  the  use  of  malt  liquors  might  be  due  to  the 
presence  of  hops. 
• 

Dr.  Thomson  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  effect  of  alco- 
holic fluids  was  greatly  dependent  upon  individual  constitution; 
and  remarked  that  in  vigorous  states  of  digestion  the  use  of  such 
fluids  was  in  many  cases  detrimental.  He  adhered  to  the  views 
expressed  by  previous  speakers  regarding  the  good  effects  of  such 
fluids  in  weakened  states  of  digestion. 


128  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Mr.  James  Macteab  gave  an  account  of  the  effects  experienced  by 
him  in  using  HofTs  extract  while  suffering  from  bilious  influenza. 
He  had  no  doubt  that  its  effects  in  his  case  were  markedly  bene- 
ficial. He  had,  however,  found  by  experience  that  a  mixture  in 
equal  parts  of  sweet  ale  and  porter  was  preferable. 

Mr.  Ogilvie  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the  experiments 
before  them,  the  proportion  of  malt  extract  to  ordinary  food  was 
much  higher  than  in  common  diet;  and  he  suggested  that  the 
author  of  the  paper  would  do  well  to  continue  his  investigation 
with  other  proportions.  He  also  remarked  that  the  effects  ob- 
tained in  these  experiments  had  not  yet  been  referred  to  the 
particular  component  of  malt  extract  to  which  they  were  due, 
and  thence]  inferred  that  it  was  premature  to  assume  that  alcohol 
was  concerned  in  the  case. 

Mr.  Coleman,  in  reply,  said  that  his  experiments  were  conducted 
at  a  temperature  of  from  100°  to  120°  Fahr.  With  respect  to  Hoff's 
extract  he  explained  that,  while  he  in  no  way  advocated  the  use  of 
it  in  preference  to  that  of  other  bettor  known  malt  liquors,  he  had 
no  doubt  that  many  of  these  produced  unfavourable  effects  in  con- 
sequence of  the  high  proportion  of  alcohol  and  hops  which  they 
contained.  He  was  unable  to  state  the  mode  of  preparation  of 
Hoff's  extract. 

On  the  motion  of  the  Chairman,  a  cordial  vote  of  thanks  was 
awarded  to  Mr.  Coleman. 


Mr.  W.  C.  Spens  on  Public  Health  Legislation  for  Scotland.  129 


XIII. — On  tJie  Necessity  of  a  General  Measure  of  Legislation  for 
Scotland  with  regard  to  Public  Health.  By  W.  C.  Spens, 
Esq.,  Advocate,  Sheriff-Substitute  of  Lanarkshire. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  April  3,  1878.] 


Gentlemen, — I  believe  I  owe  the  honour  of  addressing  you  upon 
the  subject  of  lecture  to  the  fact  that  I  have  written  a  book  upon 
The  Sanitary  System  of  Scotland- ;  its  Defects,  and  proposed  Remedies. 
I  refer  at  the  outset  to  that  work  for  this  reason,  that  there  are 
numerous  points  which  I  will  require  to  glance  at,  but  have  not  the 
time  to  deal  with  in  detail,  and  those  who  are  interested  in  all  or 
any  of  such  points,  I  must  refer  to  that  volume.  The  object  I  pro- 
pose to  myself  to-night  is  to  touch  upon  the  salient  features  of  our 
sanitary  system  of  Scotland  which  seem  to  me  to  require  reform; 
and  if  time  will  permit  I  will  then  refer  to  various  amending 
provisions  of  the  subject-matter  of  the  law  which,  I  think,  should 
be  introduced,  as  advisable  for,  if  not  essential  to,  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  public  health  of  the  community.  The  law  of  public 
health  divides  itself  into  two  branches : — 1st,  The  subject  matter 
of  the  law;  and  2nd,  The  administrative  bodies  and  executive 
machinery  to  whom  the  carrying  out  of  its  provisions  is  entrusted. 
The  administration  of  the  law,  to  those  who  have  made  any  study 
of  the  subject,  it  will  be  known,  is  the  most  difficult  of  the  two 
branches  of  the  law ;  any  one  who  has  studied  the  Report  of  the 
Royal  Commission  of  1869-70  must,  I  think,  come  to  that  conclu- 
sion. In  England  prior  to  1867,  the  date  of  the  passing  of  our 
Public  Health  Act  for  Scotland,  there  had  been  a  great  deal  of 
legislation  one  way  or  another  on  the  subject  of  public  health,  and 
from  a  want  of  proper  care  in  the  provisions  of  these  Acts  there 
hadHfeen  an  almost  inextricable  confusion  in  the  different  Local 
Authorities  entrusted  with  their  administration. 

In  our  Public  Health  Act  of  1867  there  was  no  confusion  as  to 
who  the  authorities  were.  The  Board  of  Supervision  was  constituted 
the  Central  Authority.  In  towns  being  royal,  parliamentary,  police, 
or  other  burghs,  the  local  or  other  authorities  were  tne  respective 

Town  Councils  or  Police  Commissioners.     In  the  parishes  the 
Vol.  XL— No.  1.  k 


130  Philosophical  Socidy  of  Glasgow. 

Parochial  Board  of  each  parish  respectively  was  its  Local  Authority. 
Since  1867,  we  have  had  no  general  measure  of  legislation  with 
regard  to  public  health,  whereas  in  England  there  have  been  a 
great  number  of  measures,  viz : — The  Sanitary  Act  of  1SG8  and 
1870;  the  Local  Government  Board  Act  of  1871;  Public  Health 
Act,  1872 ;  the  Sanitary  Amendment  Act,  1874 ;  and  the  Consoli- 
dating and  Amending  Act  of  1875. 

1.  Our  present  Central  Authority,  the  Board  of  Supervision,  was 
called  into  existence  by  the  Poor  Law  Act  of  1845.  Its  members- 
are  the  following : —  The  Lord  Provost  of  Edinburgh,  the  Lord 
Provost  of  Glasgow,  the  Solicitor-General  for  Scotland,  the  Sheriffs 
of  Perthshire,  Renfrewshire,  Ross  and  Cromarty  for  the  time 
being,  a  j>aid  Chairman,  and  two  unpaid  members  to  be  nominated 
by  the  Crown.  The  Chairman  at  present  is  certainly  a  gentleman 
who  discharges  his  duties  with  great  ability  and  acceptance; — 
Mr.  Walker  of  Bowland.  By  the  Public  Health  Act  of  1867, 
which  was  the  first  measure  that  really  systematically  dealt  with 
public  health  in  Scotland,  the  Board  of  Supervision  was  appointed 
the  Supervising  Authority  of  local  authorities  in  reference  to 
public  health  matters.  But  that  the  duties  under  that  Act  were 
not  supposed  to  be  very  onerous  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  the  remuneration  which  was  proposed  to  be  allowed  to  the 
legal  members  of  the  Board  (exclusive  of  the  Solicitor-General, 
whose  appointment  is  honorary) — I  mean  the  sheriffs  of  the  three 
counties — was  fixed  at  .£50  a  year,  and  I  am  not  aware  that  up  to  the 
present  time  there  has  been  any  alteration  in  the  scale  of  remuner- 
ation afforded  to  them  for  their  public  health  duties.  Now, 
gentlemen,  this  is  a  Board  which,  up  to  the  present  time,  has 
conducted  the  duties  entrusted  to  it  under  the  Public  Health  Act 
with  ability.  That,  however,  I  believe,  is  mainly  due  to  the 
interest  which  has  been  taken  in  the  subject  by  Sheriff  Fraser,  the 
Dean  of  Faculty,  and  from  the  intelligent  administration  of  the 
law  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Board,  assisted  by  Mr.  Skelton,  the 
Secretary, — a  man  of  well  known  ability  and  energy.  But  as 
regards  the  constitution  of  this  Board  itself,  as  the  Central  Public 
Health  Board,  it  seems  to  me  that  there  is  no  guarantee  afforded 
thereby  that  there  will  be  a  proper  supervision  of  public  health. 

I  don't  suppose  the  Lord  Provost  of  Glasgow  ever  dreams  of 
attending  the  meetings;  I  rather  think  the  Lord  Provost  of 
Edinburgh  very  seldom,  if  ever,  attends  these  meetings ;  I  doubt  if 
the  Solicitor-General  for  Scotland  thinks  it  incumbent  upon  him  to 
attend  these  meetings.     I  don't  think  that  the  Crown  nominees 


Mr.  \V.  C.  SrENS  on  Public  Health  Legislation  far  Scotland.  131 

regularly  attend,  only  one  of  whom  exists  at  present,  viz. — Mr. 
Smyth  of  Methven,  -who  generally,  I  think,  lives  at  his  country 
seat  in  Perthshire ;  Sir  "William  Gibson  Craig,  who  died  lately,  was 
the  other  nominee  of  the  Crown.  Therefore,  assuming  that  the 
paid  members  are  those  who  habitually  attend,  we  find  that  the 
Board  of  Supervision  consists  of  the  Chairman  and  the  three  sheriffs. 

It  is,  however,  well  known  that  some  of  these  members  did  not 
attend  frequently.  I  do  not  know  what  they  do  at  present;  I  speak, 
however,  of  very  recent  years.  Now,  although  I  always  am  pre- 
pared to  stand  up  for  my  profession,  I  certainly  am  not  prepared 
to  hold  that  the  supervision  of  public  health  matters  in  Scotland 
should  be  entrusted  to  a  committee  of  advocates.  I  don't  think 
that  it  can  be  said  that  that  is  a  body  which  possesses  the  qualifica- 
tions entitling  it  to  deal  with  public  health  matters.  Mr.  Fraser, 
who  has  made  a  study  of  the  subject  for  many  years,  is  certainly  an 
excellent  member  of  the  Board ;  but  suppose  he  ceases  to  be  Sheriff 
of  Renfrewshire  by  being  appointed  a  judge  or  otherwise,  I  am  bound 
to  say  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  Chairman,  I  don't  believe 
that  there  will  be  any  member  of  the  Board  with  what  may  be  called 
a  skilled  knowledge  of  the  subject  of  public  health.  I  consider 
therefore  that  the  constitution  of  the  Board  should  be  amended. 

In  the  volume  to  which  I  have  referred  1  arrived  at  the  conclu- 
sion, for  reasons  therein  stated,  that  it  was  advisable  that  there 
should  be  a  public  Minister  of  Health,  as  there  is,  you  know,  in 
various  countries  in  Europe.  I  cannot  go  at  greater  length  into 
this  matter  here,  but  I  will  read  the  alternative  conclusions  at 
which  I  arrived. 

(1.)  I  would  prefer  to  see  an  Imperial  Office  of  State  instituted, 
at  the  head  of  which  would  be  the  Minister  of  Public  Health,  and 
tinder  him  in  Scotland  a  resident  and  permanent  Under-Secretary, 
the  Central  Authority  being  the  department  of  State. 

(2.)  If  this  is  not  carried  out,  I  would  like  to  see  the  English 
Local  Government  Board  changed  into  an  imperial  one,  which,  as 
regards  Scotland,  might  be  done  by  the  addition  thereto  of  the 
Lord  Advocate  and  Solicitor-General,  and  another  member,  to  be 
styled  Sanitary  Inspector-General  for  Scotland,  or  some  other  name 
of  this  description — this  last-named  official  to  be  at  the  head  of  the 
Scotch  office.  The  Central  Authority  would  then  be  the  Imperial 
Local  Government  Board. 

(3.)  If  the  Board  of  Supervision,  however,  is  still  to  remain  the 
Central  Authority,  I  submit  that  it  is  advisable  that  in  addition  to 
its  present  ntmbem  there  shall  be  a  medical  gentleman  of  emi- 


132  PAfc&pMttl  &;<*'.:*  •*/  Gi^/>:vr. 

nence,  whose  presence  at  the  meetings  of  the  Board  would  be  a 
guarantee  that  the  Board  would  have  skilled  assistance  in  dealing 
with  sanitary  problems. 

These  propositions  furnish  matter  for  discussion  and  consideration. 
I  am  quite  open  to  the  argument  that  the  Board  of  Supervision  is 
necessarily  required  for  the  control  of  our  poor  law,  and  I  don't  see 
myself  any  prospect  of  its  assimilation  with  that  of  England  :  and 
that  being  so,  if  it  is  thought  necessary  that  the  supervision  of  the 
poor  law  and  that  of  the  public  health  should  be  entrusted  to 
one  and  the  same  bodv,  as  was  the  conclusion  arrived  at  bv  the 
Koyal  Commissioners  of  1369-1  £70.  quoad  England,  then  I  say  that 
there  ought  to  be  a  medical  man  of  eminence  made  one  of  the 
permanent  members  of  the  Board,  and  paid  at  a  salary  commen- 
surate with  his  eminence  and  the  work  expected  of  him. 

2.  With  regard  to  urban  sanitary  authorities,  a  perusal  of 
the  Report  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  of  1670  shows,  that 
the  Commissioners  thought  it  impossible  to  have  any  other  prin- 
ciple applied  than  that  of  local  self-government.  Now,  this 
principle  being  given  effect  to,  it  is,  I  take  it.  out  of  the  question 
that  to  any  other  body  in  towns  than  the  representatives  of  the 
ratepayers,  in  the  shape  of  their  Town  Councils  and  Police  Com- 
missioners, should  be  entrusted  the  local  administration  of  public 
health  matters.  In  the  large  towns,  so  far  as  the  law  goes,  I  think 
that  this  administration  is  well  managed  —  e.g.,  take  our  city  of 
Glasgow.  Although  I  believe  that  considerably  greater  powers 
should  be  conferred  upon  the  urban  sanitary  authorities,  still,  I 
think  the  law,  as  it  stands,  is  carried  out  as  efficiently  as  can  well 
be  done  in  the  large  towns,  but  in  small  towns  (I  won't,  however, 
draw  invidious  comparisons  by  mentioning  names)  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  public  health  provisions  is  very  much  a  sham.  Yon 
know  that  in  our  Public  Health  Act  of  1867  a  great  many  of  the 
provisions  are  ex  facie  permissive.  Of  course  there  is  an  argument 
that  the  word  may,  as  used  in  certain  Acts  of  Parliament,  is  to  be 
constructed  as  the  compulsitor  sliaU;  at  the  same  time,  ex  facie,  most 
of  the  provisions,  or  a  great  number  of  them  at  least,  are  permissive, 
and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  a  number  of  towns  act  upon  that  theory. 
But,  gentlemen,  I  admit  that  it  is  necessary  that  the  urban 
sanitary  authorities  of  all  towns  should  be  the  Town  Councils  and 
Police  Commissioners  of  the  respective  burghs,  or  committees  ap- 
pointed by  them.  Therefore,  even  in  the  small  towns  where  there  is 
at  present  habitual  neglect  of  the  sanitary  precautions  and  regula- 
tions which  might  be  taken,  even  under  the  defective  provisions  of 


Mr.  W.  C.  Spens  on  Public  Health  Legislation  for  Scotland.  133 

the  Public  Health  Act  of  1867,  I  still  think  that  their  municipal 
representatives  must  be  retained  as  the  Local  Authority,  but  I 
certainly  think  there  ought  to  be  very  ample  controlling  powers 
invested  in  a  properly  constituted  Central  Authority.  Further  on, 
with  reference  to  the  executive  machinery,  I  will  have  occasion  to 
point  out  the  description  of  officials  who  should  inspect,  as  officers 
of  the  Central  Authority ;  and  I  advocate,  besides  having  a  system 
of  skilled  local  sanitary  inspection,  so  that  wherever  it  is  discovered 
on  the  part  of  the  Central  Authority  that  there  has,  for  a  certain 
period,  been  an  habitual  disregard  on  the  part  of  urban  sanitary 
authorities  of  their  duties  in  the  matter  of  public  health,  that  it 
should  be  in  the  power  of  the  Central  Authority  to  apply  to  the 
Court  of  Session  to  appoint  two  commissioners,  who  for  the  period 
of  one  year  should  be  invested  with  the  whole  powers  of  the  urban 
sanitary  authorities,  and  whose  salaries,  as  fixed  by  the  court,  should 
be  defrayed  by  rates  to  be  levied  upon  the  town.  I  may  refer  to 
what  I  have  said  in  my  book  on  this  point  under  the  head  of  the 
Controlling  Powers  of  the  Central  Authority.     (See  p.  120.) 

Passing  from  that  point  you  all  will  have  observed  the  tendency 
of  small  burghs  to  spring  up  around  large  towns,  and  more  espe- 
cially is  that  the  case  with  regard  to  Glasgow.  Availing  themselves 
of  the  General  Police  Act,  we  have  on  the  confines  of  the  city  the 
burghs  of  Hillhead,  Maryhill,  Govan,  Partick,  Crossbill,  Kinning 
Park,  and  Govanhill.  Now,  gentlemen,  unquestionably  these  small 
burghs  all  owe  their  existence,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of 
Partick  and  Maryhill,  to  Glasgow.  They  and  their  populations 
are  where  they  are  simply  because  Glasgow  is  where  it  is.  Apart 
from  all  other  considerations,  and  having  regard  to  the  subject  of 
public  health  alone,  it  seems  to  me  eminently  undesirable  that  a 
large  town  should  not  be  entitled  to  take  within  its  own  limits 
those  populations  which  spring  up  on  its  confines,  and  owe  their 
existence  to  the  parent  city.  The  Act  of  1862,  the  Lindsay  Act, 
has  been  put,  I  imagine,  to  a  use  to  which  it  was  never  intended  to 
be  put. 

Another  matter  with  reference  to  dense  populations  is  the  sudden 
springing  up  in  mining  or  manufacturing  districts  of  places  which 
are  in  all  essentials  towns.  Let  me  instance  the  case  of  Blantyre,  a 
part  whereof  has,  however,  recently  been  created  into  a  burgh.  Some 
four  years  ago,  what  is  called  High  Blantyre  was  a  country  village 
of  the  smallest  dimensions,  but  now  it  is  a  large  town  of  brick- 
built  cottages.  That  place  has  been  allowed  to  be  built  without  any 
supervision  whatever  on  the  part  of  any  authority  with  regard  to 


134  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

the  description  of  dwellings  put  up.  There  was  no  person  to  report 
as  to  the  structure  or  stability  of  the  buildings;  there  was  no 
authority  to  control  the  way  in  which  the  streets  were  to  be  laid ; 
there  was  no  provision  as  to  the  conveniences  required;  no  system 
of  drainage  sanctioned  by  any  authority.  Now,  gentlemen,  this 
was  a  matter  which  was  considered  by  the  Royal  Commissioners  of 
1870,  and  they  reported  that  "  the  Central  Authority  should  have 
power  of  imposing  upon  rural  districts,  or  any  parts  thereof,  at  its 
discretion  after  local  inquiry,  urban  powers."  (See  Second  Report, 
vol.  i.,  p.  25.) 

I  think  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  there  should  be  some 
law  conferring  upon  certain  authorities  the  power  of  regulating  the 
growth  of  populations  when  these  suddenly  spring  up.  Indeed,  I 
may  say  one  thing  with  regard  to  all  houses :  I  think  that  no  house 
whatever,  in  town  or  country,  should  be  allowed  to  be  put  up  and 
inhabited  without  some  proper  system  of  skilled  inspection,  both 
as  to  structure  and  stability,  and  sanitary  inspection  as  regards 
drains  and  other  matters  requiring  sanitary  supervision  in  house- 
holds. I  may  add  that  the  stringent  recommendations  of  the 
Royal  Commissioners  were  made  law,  and  the  annual  reports  of 
the  Local  Government  Board  show  that  the  Local  Authorities  in 
England  make  frequent  applications  under  the  provisions  dealing 
with  this  matter,  which  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  are  almost 
invariably  granted  by  the  Central  Authority. 

3.  I  now  pass  on  to  what  I  consider  the  most  crying  necessity 
for  reform  in  our  sanitary  system  :  I  refer  to  the  present  admin- 
istration, or  rather,  I  may  say,  non-administration,  which  obtains 
with  regard  to  the  public  health  areas  in  rural  districts.  As  I 
already  mentioned,  and  as  you  all  know,  the  Local  Authority  of  rural 
districts — that  is  to  say,  every  district  which  is  not  in  the  sense  of 
the  Public  Health  Act  an  urban  district — is  vested  in  the  Parochial 
Boards  of  the  parishes  within  which  these  are  situated.  The  duties 
of  rural  sanitary  authorities  in  some  cases  may  in  certain  matters 
be  more  difficult  to  discharge  than  the  duties  imposed  upon  urban 
sanitary  authorities ;  for  instance,  they  may  without  urban  powers 
be  required  to  watch  over  the  public  health  of  communities^which 
are,  in  population  and  area,  towns.  As  matter-of-fact,  wherever  that 
has  occurred  there  has  been  little  if  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
Parochial  Boards  to  grapple  with  the  sanitary  difficulties  which 
confront  them.  Of  course,  as  I  admit,  without  having  any  urban 
powers  to  administer  the  public  health  of  urban  populations  it  is  a 
subject  of  extreme  difficulty,  or  rather  impracticability;  but  I  say 


Mn.  \V.  C.  Spens  on  I'ublic  Health  Legislation  for  Scotland.  13f> 

this  with  regard  to  the  matter,  that  in  Scotland,  where  there  has 
been  anything  of  the  kind  requiring  really  great  attention  on 
the  part  of  the  Parochial  Boards  in  the  way  of  large  centres  of 
population  which  exist  in  their  parishes,  there  has  not  been  any  real 
attempt  to  grapple  with  the  sanitary  problems  which  they  are  the 
responsible  authorities  to  deal  with.  Gentlemen,  the  question 
which  arises  at  the  outset  with  regard  to  our  present  rural  authori- 
ties is  whether  these  bodies  are  fitting,  competent,  and  adequate 
administrative  bodies  ?  If  this  question  fails  to  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  then  it  is  needless  to  make  any  further  inquiry  in  the 
matter,  for  I  thoroughly  agree  with  the  principle  of  letting  well 
alone.  To  understand  what  is  the  constitution  of  the  rural  local 
authorities,  we  require  to  revert  to  the  Poor  Law  Act  of  1845.  As 
you  know,  for  some  years  there  has  been  a  Poor  Law  Amendment 
Bill  floating  before  Parliament,  but  which  has  never  yet  been 
carried,  and  in  it  there  are  certain  proposals  with  regard  to  an  altera- 
tion of  the  constitution  of  Parochial  Boards,  but  the  present  consti- 
tution of  these  is  as  follows  : — The  new  Act  (1845)  provided  a  more 
popular  managing  body,  and  a  Parochial  Board  was  established  in 
each  parish,  consisting  of — first,  in  landward  parishes,  certain 
members  elected  by  the  ratepayers,  delegates  chosen  by  the  kirk- 
session  not  exceeding  six,  and  heritors  holding  real  property  of  more 
than  £20  of  annual  value,  and  the  provost  and  bailies  of  any  royal 
burgh  in  the  parish,  who  as  individuals  are  assessed  for  the  poor. 
Of  this  constitution  it  is  right  to  explain  (a.)  that  any  agent  or 
mandatory  holding  legal  authority  can  act  for  absent  heritors,  and 
be  a  member  of  the  board,  and  such  mandate  subsists  till  recalled — 
a  system  of  delegation  which  has  given  rise  to  great  complaint ;  (6.) 
that  the  elected  or  ratepayers'  members  are  proportionate  to  a  scale 
sliding  with  the  population,  whereby  it  is  said  that  in  small  un- 
populous  parishes  they  are  often  in  a  great  minority  and  powerless  to 
act ;  and  (c.)-that  the  electors  and  owners  of  less  annual  value  than 
£20  who  have  each  one  vote,  and  tenants  and  occupants,  the  number 
of  whose  votes  rises  with  the  annual  value  of  the  subjects  assessed  on, 
but  limited  in  all  to  six  votes ;  and  persons  assessed  both  as  owners 
and  occupiers  vote  in  respect  of  each  capacity." 

It  would  appear  that  the  modus  operandi  of  election  of  the  trifling 
number  of  members  who  may  be  elected  to  each  rural  Parochial 
Board  is  as  follows : — Different  parishes  have  different  days  of 
election  in  each  year,  as  fixed  by  the  Board  of  Supervision.  The 
notice  of  the  day  of  the  election,  and  the  requisition  to  the  rate- 
payers to  elect,  is  given  by  affixing  a  document  to  the  parish  church 


136  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow, 

door.  In  some  places  the  inspectors  of  poor  go  about  beating  up 
for  people  to  attend  the  meetings  for  election,  in  order  that  there 
may  be  a  proposer  and  seconder,  both  being  necessary  to  make 
an  election  of  each  representative,  the  number  of  whom  is  fixed 
by  the  Board  of  Supervision  for  each  parish.  If  the  proposer  and 
seconder  are  got,  the  nominees  are  probably  the  nominees  of  the 
inspector  of  poor.  If  they  are  not  obtained,  the  ratepayers'  repre- 
sentatives are  simply  not  elected,  with  perhaps  the  same  abortive 
result  on  the  following  annual  day  of  election.  I  refer  to  this  with 
the  object  of  showing  that  there  is  no  real  interest  in  the  election  of 
ratepayers'  representatives,  and  for  this  reason,  that  they  are  a  mere 
fraction  of  the  Parochial  Board.  I  believe  I  am  not  far  wrong  in 
saying  that  there  is  not  one  out  of  fifty  of  the  rural  parishes  of 
Scotland  which  really  takes  an  interest  in  the  subject  of  election. 
While,  gentlemen,  I  believe  it  to  be  the  case  that  most  of  the 
Parochial  Boards  in  rural  parishes  discharge  their  poor  law  duties 
in  an  apathetic  and  perfunctory  manner,  I  think  that  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  with  regard  to  their  public  health  duties  many  of 
them  fail  to  discharge  any  such  duties  at  all,  unless  perhaps  when 
called  upon  by  the  Board  of  Supervision  to  do  something  through 
attention  having  been  called  by  the  breaking  out  of  epidemic  disease, 
or  some  other  compulsitor.  I  believe  I  may  lay  down  the  following 
propositions  with  regard  to  the  rural  local  authorities  of  Scotland  : 

1.  In  a  very  large  number  of  the  parishes  of  Scotland  there  has  been 
complete  neglect  of  sanitary  administrative  duties — in  very  few 
indeed  have  these  duties  been  zealously  and  properly  discharged. 

2.  The  physical  area  of  a  parish  is  in  many  cases  too  small  to  have 
independent  adequate  machinery  for  sanitary  requirements.  3.  The 
mental  area  of  a  parish  (if  I  may  so  express  my  meaning)  is  often  too 
circumscribed  for  a  fitting  selection  of  guardians  of  public  health. 
With  reference  to  this  last  proposition,  I  may  say  that  while  the 
selection  is  circumscribed,  not  only  by  an  actual  paucity  of  men 
fitted  to  discharge  the  duties,  it  is  further  circumscribed  from  the 
fact  that  local  men  dislike  incurring  personal  local  unpopularity  by 
properly  discharging  the  duties  of  public  health  guardians — a  proper 
discharge  of  such  duties,  I  may  explain,  infers  not  only  a  certain 
amount  of  taxation,  but  also  a  certain  amount  of  interference,  which 
is  resented.  4.  In  many  parishes  there  is  no  attendance  at  meetings 
of  the  Parochial  Board  qua  Local  Authority  of  gentlemen  of  educa- 
tion, position,  and  influence,  resulting  in  the  proceedings  being  re- 
garded by  the  community  in  some  cases  with  well  founded,  and  in 
some  cases  with  ill  founded,  suspicion,  mistrust,  and  dislike.     The 


Mr.  W.  C.  Spens  on  Public  Health  Legislation  for  Scotland.  137 

result  of  attendance  at  such  meetings  being  confined  to  local  busy- 
bodies  and  nobodies  is  to  lead  to  a  mistrust  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
munity of  the  Board  which  permits  their  affairs  to  be  managed  by 
such  persons.  Even  however  good  the  intention  of  such  persons 
might  be,  their  actings  will  in  no  case  be  satisfactory  to  the  com- 
munity, and  I  fear  that  sometimes,  when  local  health  administration 
has  got  into  the  hands  of  one  or  two  individuals  of  the  above 
description,  matters  have  been  meddled  with  in  such  a  way  as  enor- 
mously to  increase  the  prejudice  against  sanitary  interference.  I 
believe  it  has  even  happened  that  private  animosities  have  been 
gratified  by  prosecutions  directed  against  individuals  for  matters 
which  may  possibly  fall  under  the  description  of  nuisances  in  the 
Public  Health  Act,  but  which  still  are  mere  gnats  as  compared 
with  camels  in  the  great  abuses  that  are  allowed  to  flourish 
unchecked. 

In  the  Report  of  the  Commission  of  1870  we  find  that  the  unani- 
mous opinion  is  arrived  at  by  the  Commissioners  that  it  was  unsafe 
to  entrust  the  administration  of  local  health  matters  to  any  unit  so 
small  as  a  parish,  and  very  much  for  the  reasons  I  have  assigned. 
But,  gentlemen,  I  don't  think  that  any  of  you  who  have  looked 
into  the  subject  can  have  any  doubt  that  what  is  required  with 
reference  to  a  rural  local  authority  is  that  the  duties  shall  be 
entrusted  to  a  small  but  practical  board  of  men  selected  from  a  very 
much  larger  area  than  that  of  a  parish.  Having  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  rural  local  authorities,  as  at  present  constituted,  are 
incompetent  and  utterly  unfitted  for  a  proper  discharge  of  the  work 
which  is  delegated  to  them,  even  under  our  present  Public  Health 
Act,  and  therefore  a  fortiori  less  fitted  for  the  discharge  of  increased 
duties  under  an  amending  Public  Health  Act,  it  is,  I  think,  clear 
that  some  scheme  should  be  adopted  to  provide  another  description 
of  authority.  The  scheme  which  I  venture  to  submit  to  you  is  one 
deduced  to  a  certain  extent  from  the  English  system ;  but  time  will 
not  permit  me  to  detail  the  English  system,  and  I  must  therefore 
refer  those  of  you  interested  in  the  subject  to  the  fifth  chapter  of  the 
volume  previously  adverted  to.  I  think  that  Poor  Law  Boards 
should  be  selected  wholly  from  the  ratepayers  on  the  principles  laid 
down  in  the  English  law.  These  are,  that  every  owner  of  property 
and  ratepayer  shall  have  respectively  the  same  number  and  propor- 
tion of  votes  according  to  the  scale  following,  viz  : — One  vote  for  any 
sum  less  than  £50  for  rateable  value,  two  votes  for  any  sum  above 
£50  but  under  £100,  and  so  on  to  six  votes,  when  the  rateable 
value  amounts  to  or  exceeds  £250.     What  I  would  propose,  then,  is 


138  Philosoylucal  Sockty  of  Glasgow. 

that  as  regards  Poor  Law  Boards  a  certain  number  of  members 
should  be  fixed  by  the  Board  of  Supervision,  in  no  parish,  however, 
exceeding  a  certain  number,  say  eight  or  ten.  Should  this  alteration, 
however,  as  to  the  constitution  of  Parochial  Boards  not  be  carried 
out,  it  will  not  effect  to  any  material  extent  the  scheme  which  I 
venture  to  submit  with  reference  to  public  health  rural  authorities. 
I  suggest  that  the  Central  Sanitary  Authority  should  have  the 
compulsory  power  of  uniting  parishes  in  public  health  districts,  and 
that  the  boards  of  health  should  be  the  aggregate  of  delegates  chosen 
by  the  individual  parochial  boards  of  such  public  health  districts, 
the  number  of  such  delegates  for  each  parish  to  be  fixed  by  the 
Central  Authority,  but  not  to  exceed  a  certain  number,  say  three 
in  every  parish, — the  larger  parishes  having  the  full  number,  three, 
the  middle-sized  parishes  two,  and  all  the  smaller  parishes  a  single 
delegate  only.  If  the  constitution  of  Poor  Law  Boards  is  not 
changed,  then,  although  these  Boards  retain  their  present  large  and 
vague  form,  I  would  still  suggest  that  from  that  large  body  should 
be  selected  the  same  limited  number  as  I  suggested  should  be 
chosen  from  the  Poor  Law  Boards,  if  limited  to  a  smaller  number. 
While  I  propose  that  the  Central  Authority  should  merely  have 
power  to  unite  parishes  in  public  health  districts,  not  that  it  should 
be  compulsory  on  them  to  unite,  I  assume  that  this  would  be  done 
generally  throughout  Scotland.  I  am  by  no  means  convinced  of  the 
advisability  of  there  being  a  general  scheme  of  union  of  parishes  for 
poor  law  purposes,  but  this  is  a  matter  which  I  don't  pretend  to 
have  investigated.  It  would  not  do,  I  think,  to  make  it  compulsory 
on  the  Central  Authority  to  include  all  the  parishes  of  Scotland  in 
public  health  districts,  for  it  is  obvious  that  sparsely  populated 
Highland  parishes  do  not  require  sanitary  supervision  in  the  same 
senso  as  the  more  populous  parishes  of  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland. 
I  would  therefore  be  contented  to  leave  to  individual  Parochial 
Boards,  if  amended  as  I  propose,  the  care  of  the  public  health 
administration  of  such  parishes  as  the  Central  Authority  shall  not 
think  fit  to  make  part  of  a  public  health  district.  The  English 
rural  local  authorities  are  the  unions  of  parishes ;  and  into  the  con- 
stitution of  these  I  cannot  enter  here,  but  it  is  given  in  detail  in  the 
volume  referred  to.  These  unions  I  believe  to  be  too  large, 
surveyed  from  a  public  health  point  of  view,  while  there  has  been 
no  thought  of  drainage,  water-shed,  &c,  in  their  formation,  and 
therefore  if  it  was  made  law  that  there  should  be  a  compulsory 
uniting  of  parishes  for  public  health  districts,  I  take  it  that  the 
Central  Authority  would  need  to  make  special  inquiry  into  drainage, 


Mr.  W.  C.  Spens  on  Public  Health  Legislation  fur  Scotland   1,'ii) 

water  supply  capacity,  and  other  things  which  had  not  been 
regarded  in  the  formation  of  districts  of  union  in  England.  Of  course 
it  is  natural  enough  that  it  should  not  have  been  regarded  when  the 
formation  of  these  unions  had  in  England  sole  reference  to  poor  law 
purposes,  and  when  their  possible  extension  into  public  health 
districts  was  not  contemplated.  Such,  gentlemen,  is  necessarily  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  proposals  which  I  make  with  regard  to  an  alter- 
ation of  the  constitution  of  our  rural  health  authorities. 

4.  The  next  point  which  I  submit  for  consideration  is  the  neces- 
sity for  some  amendment  and  enlargement  of  the  executive  machin- 
ery for  public  health  purposes.  I  have  previously  stated  that  the 
Central  Authority  would  require  to  have  very  large  controlling 
powers,  and  not  only  should  there  be  controlling  powers,  but  I 
submit  there  should  be  a  system  of  central  inspection  to  discover 
that  the  law  is  really  being  put  into  force.  At  present,  gentlemen, 
the  officers  of  the  Central  Authority,  confined  to  public  health 
duties  alone,  consist  of  a  single  individual,  Dr.  Littlejohn,  the 
Medical  Officer  of  Health  of  Edinburgh,  who  was  (after  a  large 
amount  of  correspondence,  the  salient  points  of  which  will  be 
found  set  forth  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  volume  I  have  referred 
to)  appointed  the  medical  officer  of  the  Central  Authority  at  the 
huge  salary  of  £200  per  annum.  He  is  appointed  upon  the  under- 
standing that  for  that  salary  he  shall  undertake  all  investigations 
within  a  day's  journey  of  Edinburgh,  instead  of  within  ten  miles,  as 
originally  proposed.  Now,  gentlemen,  I  think  that  it  would  bo 
well  that  a  distinguished  practical  medical  man  should  be  appointed 
as  Sanitary  Inspector-General  of  Scotland,  who  should  be  at  the  head 
of  all  the  sanitary  inspectors  and  medical  officers  in  Scotland ;  and 
from  both  medical  officers  and  sanitary  inspectors  I  think  it  should 
be  required  that  there  should  be  periodical  reports  of  the  state  of 
the  districts,  and  the.  work  performed  therein ;  as  also  that  books 
should  be  regularly  kept,  distinctly  detailing  their  work  and  the 
inspections  made,  and  that  such  reports  should  be  transmitted  to 
the  sanitary  inspector-general,  who  should  make  an  annual  investi- 
gation of  their  books.  I  see  no  objection  to  a  medical  gentleman 
of  eminence  being  at  once  a  member  of  the  Board  and  conducting 
special  sanitary  investigations,  and  I  would  propose  that  the  official 
suggested  should  be  a  member  of  the  Central  Sanitary  Authority. 
Under  the  sanitary  inspector-general  there  should  be  central  sani- 
tary inspectors.  At  present  the  general  superintendence  of  poor 
is  intrusted  to  certain  officers  called  visiting  officers,  who  have 
certain  duties    conferred   upon   them  with  reference  to  sanitary 


140  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

investigations,  but  the  latter  are  made  altogether  subsidiary  to  their 
poor  law  duties.  The  directions  to  these  officers  by  the  Board  of 
Supervision  will  be  found  set  forth  in  an  instructional  letter  issued 
by  the  Board  of  Supervision  on  31st  May,  1869.  This  letter  says, — 
"  The  Board  do  not  wish  you  at  present  to  make  such  regular  and 
minute  inspections  of  your  district  with  reference  to  its  sanitary 
condition  as  would  seriously  interfere  with  your  ordinary  duties  as 
general  superintendent  of  poor ;  but  when  you  visit  a  parish  in  the 
course  of  your  duties  as  a  poor  law  officer,  you  will  take  the  oppor- 
tunity of  inquiring  how  far  the  enactments  of  the  Public  Health 
Act  are  complied  with  ;  and  whenever  you  find  any  failure  on  the 
part  of  the  Local  Authority  you  will  report  the  same  to  the  Board." 
Of  late  years  visiting  officers  have  frequently  been  despatched  by 
the  Board  on  special  missions  of  inspection.  Under  the  Act,  as  at 
present,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  there  is  any  power  conferred 
upon  such  officers  as  against  the  public.  For  instance,  such  inspect- 
ing officers  have  no  powers  conferred  upon  them  to  insist  on  admit- 
tance for  the  purpose  of  making  sanitary  investigation.  If  the  more 
definite  sanitary  inspection  and  supervision  over  local  sanitary  in- 
spectors, which  I  have  indicated  as  a  proper  subject  for  legislation, 
and  into  the  details  of  which  I  will  immediately  enter,  be  made 
part  of  our  public  health  law,  then  1  think  it  is  necessary  that  the 
Central  Authority  should  have  a  special  staff  of  central  sanitary 
inspectors,  whose  powers,  if  not  their  duties  also,  should  be  defined 
by  statute. 

Passing,  however,  from  the  officers  of  the  Central  Authority,  I 
now  come  to  those  of  the  Local  Authorities.  In  England  there  is 
a  medical  officer  of  health  in  every  district — that  is  to  say,  that  in 
every  district  there  is  skilled  sanitary  supervision  over  the  public 
health.  In  Scotland,  on  the  other  hand,  while  it  is  true  that  the 
Board  of  Supervision  arrived  at  the  conclusion  in  August,  1871, 
that  all  Local  Authorities  having  within  their  jurisdiction  a  town 
or  village  population  of  2,000  or  upwards  should  bo  required  to 
appoint  a  sanitary  inspector,  which  resolution  has,  I  believe,  gen- 
erally, though  not  universally,  been  carried  out — still  there  is  no 
compulsory  medical  supervision  appointed  under  the  Public  Health 
Act.  It  is  quite  true  that  under  the  existing  Public  Health  Act 
the  Board  of  Supervision  could  insist  on  the  appointment  of  a 
medical  officer  of  health  in  all  districts,  but  that  has  not  been  done 
to  almost  any  extent  whatever.  As  I  said,  however,  in  most  of  the 
populous  rural  districts  of  Scotland  there  is  a  sanitary  inspector. 
What    qualifications    are    required    with   reference   to  a  sanitary 


Mr.  W.  C.  Spens  on  Publk  Health  Legislation  for  Scotland.  141 

inspector,  and  what  amount  of  remuneration  is  afforded  to  him  for 
the  discharge  of  his  duties?  I  think  I  am  not  wrong  in  answering 
the  question  of  who  are  the  sanitary  inspectors  of  Scotland?  by 
saying  that,  except  in  large  towns,  I  believe  the  answer  with  truth 
to  be,  Any  person,  scavenger,  small  grocer,  labourer,  policeman,  who 
could  be  got  at  the  smallest  possible  salary.  The  salaries  must  be 
"proper  salaries"  under  the  Act,  but  what  are  proper  salaries?  "We 
have  the  following  note  by  Mr.  Monro  to  his  annotated  edition  of 
the  Public  Health  Act: — "The  salaries  must  be  in  amount 'com- 
mensurate with  a  diligent  and  efficient  discharge  of  the  respective 
duties  (medical  officer  and  sanitary  inspector).  The  Board  has  dis- 
approved of  a  salary  of  £5  for  sanitary  inspector,  and  called  on  a 
Local  Authority  to  increase  it — a  salary  of  one  guinea  to  the  sani- 
tary inspector  insufficient."  Although  the  Board  may  in  some 
cases  have  disapproved  of  salaries  of  £5,  as  indicated,  there  are 
many  sanitary  inspectors  in  Scotland  paid  at  that  rate,  and  I  think 
I  am  not  wrong  in  stating  that  the  majority  of  sanitary  inspectors 
in  Scotland  have  not  larger  salaries  than  £15  per  annum.  I  don't 
know  that  I  would  be  wrong  if  I  substituted  £10  for  £15.  On  the 
28th  July,  1873,  a  note  was  transmitted  to  the  Local  Authorities 
containing  bye-laws  recommended  by  the  Board  of  Supervision  for 
the  regulation  of  the  duties  of  sanitary  inspectors.  Under  the 
Public  Health  Act  bye-laws  with  regard  to  these  duties  required 
to  be  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Supervision,  and  accordingly  the 
letter  transmitting  these  stated, — "In  the  event  of  these  or  similar 
bye-laws  being  adopted  by  the  Local  Authority,  you  are  required 
to  transmit  them  for  the  approval  of  the  Board."  In  other  words, 
the  bye-laws  must  be  proposed  by  the  Local  Authority,  and  not 
by  the  Central  Authority.  I  think  it  would  be  better  if  the  bye- 
laws  were  promulgated  by  the  Central  Authority.  These  bye-laws 
are  lengthy,  and  therefore  I  do  not  propose  to  quote  them  here. 
They  will  be  found  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Supervision 
for  the  Year  1873,  and  their  substance  will  also  be  found  at  page  76 
of  my  volume.  I  approve  of  these  bye-laws ;  but  I  should  doubt  if 
more  than  half-a-dozen  rural  authorities  have  homologated  them. 
It  would  indeed  be  absurd  to  expect  that  men  sufficiently  educated 
for  the  purpose  could  make  systematic  inspection  of  their  districts 
and  keep  daily  records  thereof  for  a  bagatelle  of  £5,  or  even  £10 
per  annum.  Local  Authorities  would  not  accordingly  issue  such 
bye-laws,  as  had  they  done  so  they  would  have  required  to  increase 
the  salaries,  if  the  men  were  competent  to  keep  records;  nor  would 
they  adopt  them  if  the  sanitary  inspectors  were  not  qualified  for 


142  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

such  a  task,  as  is  the  case,  I  believe,  in  the  majority  of  districts, 
because  then  they  would  have  required  to  have  got  new  sanitary 
inspectors  at  higher  salaries.     In  England  the  system  is  that  one 
medical  officer  of  health  is  allocated  to  each  public  health  district, 
and  salaries  of  £800  to  £1,000,  with  allowances  for  offices,  are  by 
no  means  an  unusual  thing  for  large  districts.     The  health  officers 
in  England  of  those  districts  are  medical  officers  of  health  and 
inspectors  of  nuisances;  but,  as  I  said,  in  very  few  Scotch  rural 
districts  are  there  any  medical  officers.     The  scheme  which  I  sub- 
mitted in  the  volume  previously  referred  to  was  that  there  should 
be  a  system   of  skilled  sanitary  inspection ;  that  the  qualifications 
for  the  office  of  sanitary  inspector  should  be  raised  and  tested;  that 
sanitary  inspectors  should  hold  no  other  appointment  except  certain 
other  appointments  in   direct   connection   with   the   office;    that 
they  should  be  paid  with  salaries  commensurate  with  their  train- 
ing and  work,  say  in  no  case  less  than  £150  per  annum ;  and  that 
their  duties  should  be  made  more  definite  and  extensive.     As  re- 
gards medical  officers,  I  submitted  that  in  every  parish,  being  part 
of  the  public  health  district,  as  proposed  to  be  altered,  the  poor  law 
medical  officer  should  be  the  officer  of  health,  paid  a  certain  definite 
salary,  but  certainly  not  less  than  £50  per  annum.     In  England, 
you  will  observe,  the  system  is  to  have  a  skilled  medical  man  at  a 
large  salary,  assisted  by  an  entirely  unskilled  man,  whose  sole  duty 
is  the  inspection   of  nuisances.     I  am  inclined   to  think  that  it 
would  be  better  to  have  a  system  of  skilled  sanitary  inspection  with 
a  definite  medical  officer  of  every  parish,  whom  it  should  be  the 
duty  of  such  skilled  sanitary  inspector  to  call  on  in  every  case  in 
his  (the  doctor  s)  parish  where  the  sanitary  inspector  thought  it 
necessary,  but  this  is  a  matter  for  consideration.     Perhaps  the  gentle- 
men present  may  be  of  opinion  that  our  system  should  be  put  upon 
precisely  the  same  footing  as  that  of  England,  having  a  skilled  medi- 
cal man  to  deal  with  the  whole  subject  of  the  public  health  of  the 
district,  and  that  the  sanitary  inspector  should  merely  act  very  much 
as  an  inspector  of  nuisances ;  but  whatever  be  the  conclusion  arrived 
at,  I  submit  that  the  duties  of  sanitary  inspectors  and  medical 
officers  of  health  should  be  made  distinct  and  imperative,  and  that 
those  officials  shall  be  paid  salaries  commensurate  with  the  work 
expected  of  them ;  and  further,  that  they  should  be  subject  to  the 
supervision  and  control  of  the  sanitary  inspector-general,  or  some 
such  official  as  the  one  I  have  suggested,  who  should  be  at  the  head 
of  all  these  officials  in  Scotland. 
5.  With  reference  to  the  subject  matter  of  the  law,  as  time  is  bo 


Mr.  W.  C.  Spens  on  Public  Health  Legislation  for  Scotland.   1  i:> 

short,  I  will  only  deal  at  any  length  with  three  points  under  this 
division  of  my  subject.  In  the  first  place,  the  law  requires  amend- 
ment with  regard  to  overcrowding;  the  inspection  of  dwelling- 
houses  with  reference  to  sanitary  requirements ;  as  to  intimation  of 
infectious  disease ;  provisions  to  prevent  the  evasion  of  the  Vaccina- 
tion Act;  and  provisions  to  render  it  in  the  power  of  sanitary 
authorities  to  insist  upon  the  separation  of  contagious  and  infectious- 
disease.  I  think  also  there  should  be  a  general  power  for  sanitary 
inspectors  to  appear  in  courts  of  haw,  where,  for  instance,  risk  to- 
the  public  in  the  matter  of  public  health  is  involved.  (I  may  just 
explain  here,  with  reference  to  this  proposal,  that  in  the  Hamilton 
district,  where  I  acted  as  Sheriff  for  some  time,  I  had  upon  one  occa- 
sion no  less  than  a  thousand  applications  before  me  to  eject  miners 
from  their  houses  in  one  week.  Now,  there  can  be  no  question 
that  there  is  a  great  risk  to  the  public  health  in  the  ejection  of 
such  a  large  number  of  persons  as  this  implies.  It  may  be  con- 
sidered that  it  would  be  wrong  to  allow  interference  on  the  part  of 
sanitary  authorities  with  regard  to  the  right  of  a  landlord  to  put 
out  a  tenant,  unless  there  is  actually  infectious  disease  among  the 
inmates  of  the  houses ;  but  I  submit,  that  at  all  events,  wherever 
there  is  any  risk  of  an  epidemic  being  spread  among  the  public  by 
such  an  ejection,  that  the  sanitary  inspectors  should  have  power  to* 
interfere  and  oppose,  at  least  to  the  effect  of  getting  precautions 
taken  to  prevent  outbreaks  of  disease.)  Then,  I  think,  that  it 
should  be  made  definitely  part  of  a  sanitary  inspector's  duty  to  see 
to  the  disinfection  of  houses,  clothing,  <kc,  after  outbreaks  of  infec- 
tious disease.  I  am  also  of  opinion  that  there  ought  to  be  definite 
duties  intrusted  to  duly  qualified  sanitary  inspectors  with  reference 
to  the  adulteration  of  food.  I  think  also  the  legislature  should 
interfere  to  prevent  the  sale  of  newly  distilled  spirits  containing 
above  a  certain  percentage  of  fusil  oil,  and  if  possible  to  secure  a 
pure  milk  supply.  The  last  named  subject  is  sufficiently  before 
the  public  of  Glasgow  at  present,  without  requiring  any  remarks  of 
mine  upon  it  here. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  I  bring  these  remarks  to  a  conclusion — 
dealing  as  I  have  done  with  various  branches  of  a  large  subject  in  a 
limited  space  of  time,  they  are  necessarily  very  sketchy  and  im- 
perfect ;  but  still,  for  the  purpose  of  discussion  and  consideration, 
perhaps  they  bring  out  the  salient  weaknesses  of  our  existing  sani- 
tary system,  and  various  defects  in  the  subject  matter  of  the  law. 


144  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Discussion  on  Mr.  Spens*  Paper. 

Mr.  J.  Cleland  Burns  corroborated  the  statements  made  by 
Sheriff  Spens  with  respect  to  the  sanitary  condition  of  Hamilton 
and  its  neighbourhood.  He  also  expressed  his  entire  concurrence 
in  Mie  views  advocated  in  the  paper  as  to  the  relation  that  should 
exist,  for  sanitary  purposes,  between  a  large  city  like  Glasgow  and 
its  suburban  burghs. 

Mr.  John  Honeyman  drew  attention  to  the  action  at  present 
being  taken  by  the  Institute  of  British  Architects,  as  well  as  by 
local  societies,  in  favour  of  a  general  Building  Act  applicable  both 
in  town  and  country,  and  suggested  that  this  Society  might  use- 
fully co-operate  in  that  matter. 

Dr.  J.  B.  Russell  welcomed  the  paper  that  had  been  read  as  an 
expression  of  the  enlightened  public  opinion  which  was  to  deter- 
mine the  direction  of  sanitary  legislation.  They  were  all  too 
familiar  with  the  defects  under  which  Scotland  laboured  in  sani- 
tary matters,  and  he  had  nothing  but  admiration  to  express  for 
the  thoroughly  practical  grasp  which  Sheriff  Spens  had  taken  of 
the  subject.  He  referred  to  the  inferences  drawn  in  a  paper  read 
by  himself  before  the  Society  in  an  earlier  part  of  the  session,  with 
regard  to  the  comparative  healthfulness  of  urban  and  rural  districts 
in  Scotland,  and  pointed  out  that  the  accounts  given  by  Sheriff 
Spens  of  the  defective  sanitary  organisation  in  the  latter  accounted 
for  their  comparatively  high  death-rate.  According  to  recent  sta- 
tistics, the  sanitary  condition  of  England  appeared  to  be  improving, 
while  that  of  Scotland  appeared  to  be  retrograding,  and  this  he  was 
inclined  to  attribute  to  the  superior  organisation  of  sanitary  matters 
in  England  (Health  of  England  Act). 

Dr.  Christie  expressed  entire  concurrence  in  the  views  of  Sheriff 
Spens  and  other  speakers  as  to  the  necessity  for  a  comprehensive 
Health  Act  for  Scotland. 

Mr.  Mayer,  in  view  of  the  probable  extension  of  household 
suffrage  to  counties,  asked  how  the  learned  Sheriff  proposed  to 
elect  the  Board  to  be  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  Act 
he  had  suggested. 

Sheriff  Spens,  in  reply,  said  that  until  household  suffrage  had 
been  extended  to  counties  he  could  not  answer  the  question. 


Mr.  Joseph  Whitley  on  tJie  Specific  Gravities  of  Metals.     14  5 


XIV. — Experiments  on  the  Relative  Sjxcific  Gravities  of  Solid  and 
Melted  Metals,  <bc,  at  the  Temperature  of  Fusion.  By  Joseph 
Whitley,  Esq. — Communicated  by  Dr.  Henry  Muirhead. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  April  17,  1878.] 


Abstract. 

This  communication  contained  the  substance  of  experiments  made 
at  the  request  of  Dr.  Muirhead  by  Joseph  Whitley,  Esq.,  of  Leeds, 
at  first  upon  the  relative  specific  gravities  of  solid  and  melted 
metals  at  the  temperature  of  fusion,  and  subsequently  upon  the 
specific  gravities  of  other  substances.  Dr.  Muirhead  was  led  to 
have  these  experiments  instituted  by  the  speculations  of  Sir 
William  Thomson,  upon  the  internal  structure  of  the  earth,  as  set 
forth  more  especially  in  his  presidential  address  to  the  Geological 
Society  of  Glasgow  in  February  last. 

The  following  quotations  from  two  letters  from  Mr.  Whitley 
to  Dr.  Muirhead,  and  dated  respectively  March  30  and  April  11, 
1878,  convey  the  experimental  results  obtained  : — 

"Leeds,  March  30,  1878. 

"  I  have  carefully  gone  over  the  experiments  on  the  melting  of 
metals  in  contact  with  liquid  metals.  I  was  certain  on  this  point, 
from  more  than  half  a  century's  observation,  before  you  wrote  me, 
and  I  think  I  indicated  that  conclusion  in  a  former  letter.  I  have 
now  only  to  indicate  the  order  in  which  I  conducted  the  experiments, 
the  results  of  which  I  now  communicate. 

"  With  several  different  compounds  of  brass,  at  various  tempera- 
tures, I  melted  similar  compounds.  Skimming  the  metal  in  the 
crucible,  I  laid  the  solid  piece  carefully  on  the  clean  surface, 
which  piece,  coating  itself  partially  by  chilling  the  liquid  metal, 
very  soon  re-absorbed  a  sufficient  amount  of  heat  to  be  fused,  and 
fusing  from  the  bottom  side  gradually  dissolved.  I  then  placed 
similar  blocks  of  metal  endwise  on,  when  dipping  beneath  the 
surface  they  bounded  back  to  the  surface,  and  subsequently  dis- 
solved endway  down.  These  results  apply  to  various  weights  and 
sorts  of  compounds. 

"  I  then  conducted  similar  experiments  with  cast  iron,  and  found 
that  the  facts  were  still  more  conspicuous  in  the  cast  iron  (all  of 

Vol.  XI.— No.  1.  l 


146  Philosophical  S*x'uly  »f  Gla*joir. 

the  same  tendency}  than  in  brass.  Placing  the  iron  on  the  surface 
of  the  liquid  iron,  a  rapid  chill  set  in,  and  a  coating  of  iron,  appar- 
ently about  one-eighth  inch  thick,  attached  itself  to  the  cold  metal, 
but  very  shortly  re-melted,  when  the  cold  iron  disappeared  with  it. 
I  then  dropped  a  small  piece  of  cold  iron  (the  same  being  dried  to 
prevent  explosion)  endwise  on  to  the  surface  of  the  liquid  metal, 
when  bounding  back  to  the  surface  it  melted  in  that  position. 

"  The  statement  applies  precisely  to  the  experiments  conducted 
in  lead. 

"In  all  cases  the  cold  metals  were  relieved  of  any  exterior 
ingredient  by  being  well  tiled  over.  In  every  case  of  brass  and 
iron,  the  material  melted  was  about  one  inch  in  diameter  and  four 
inches  long,  each  piece  being  round.  With  regard  to  the  lead, 
the  pieces  varied  in  size,  weight,  and  form,  but  all  the  experiments 
resulted  in  the  same  wav. 

"  I  am,  Dear  Sir, 

"  Yours  very  respectfully, 

"JOSEPH  WHITLEY. 

"  P.S. — Pure  copper  and  soft  iron  float  also, — as  ice  does." 

"  Railway  Works, 
"Leeds,  llfA  April,  1878. 

"  My  dear  Dr.  Muirhead, 

"  Confirming  my  letter  of  yesterday,  I  have  now  to 
report  the  results  of  several  experiments  which  you  will  see  perfectly 
coincide  with  and  demonstrate  the  truth  I  have  again  and  again 
assured  you  of — viz.,  that  all  liquid  matters  that  are  susceptible  of 
solidification  will,  when  solid,  float  upon  similar  matter  when  in  a 
liquid  state. 

"  I  intimated  to  you  in  my  last  that  I  feared  I  could  not  in  a  small 
crucible  sufficiently  flux  granite  and  whinstone,  and  in  my  experi- 
ments of  yesterday,  although  I  melted  my  crucible,  I  did  not 
sufficiently  liquefy  the  granite  so  as  to  float  a  piece  upon  the  melted 
mass.  I  therefore  deferred  further  manipulations  till  to-day,  and 
having  secured  a  quantity  of  whinstone  I  also  determined  to  alter 
my  course,  and  to  take  the  advantage  of  a  much  larger  focus  of  heat 
than  that  of  a  furnace  30"  x  20"  x  20"  with  a  60  lb.  crucible.  So  1 
called  upon  Messrs.  Taylor  Bros.  <fc  Co.,  Ironmasters,  of  this  town, 
and  with  their  permission  I  proceeded  as  follows  : — 

"  Being  passed  over  by  their  manager  to  a  subordinate  officer,  a 
worthy  and  very  intelligent  fellow,  and,  by  the  way,  a  strong 


Mr.  Joseph  Whitley  on  tlie  Specific  Gravities  of  Metals.     147 

believer  in  the  doctrine  that  matter  sinks  in  like  matter  when 
melted,  we  went  to  a  furnace  where  we  had  three  tests  with 
whinstone,  which  he  said  disappeared ;  and  I  believe  that  he  was 
justified  in  the  two  first  experiments,  because  he  was  not  sufficiently 
up  in  his  observations  so  as  to  notice  a  stream  of  gas  liberated  from 
a  bubble  in  the  surface  by  the  melting  of  the  whinstone  just  under 
it  (the  surface).  In  the  next  furnace  we  went  to  we  had  a  large 
quantity  of  liquid  cinder  *  tapped  out '  of  a  furnace  into  a  trough. 
I  really  wish  you  could  have  seen  it.  To  me  the  sight  was  grand ; 
the  gases  given  off  by  the  melting  of  the  whinstone  blazed  with  a 
sort  of  blending  of  tints  of  purple,  yellow,  and  green.  I  never  saw 
anything  so  fine  in  flame.  The  whinstone  was  like  a  thing  of  life, 
so  buoyant.  Of  course,  the  specific  gravities  of  the  liquid  and  solid 
materials  varied  considerably,  and  hence  the  buoyancy  of  the  whin- 
stone. We  then  tried  a  large  number  of  small  pieces  of  cinder 
same  as  the  liquid  mass  before  us;  but  my  friend,  the  officer,  insisted 
that  they  went  to  the  bottom ;  they  certainly,  except  in  one  instance, 
never  returned  to  the  surface,  because  they  liquefied  before  they  had 
time  to  rise.  My  whinstone  being  done,  and  seeing  that  the  results 
were  not  so  satisfactory  to  my  friend,  I  remarked  that  I  was 
prepared  to  go  all  day  and  all  night  rather  than  give  up  the  task  of 
convincing  him  that  his  conclusions  were  wrong.  I  therefore 
suggested  we  should  take  a  larger  furnace,  and  deal  with  larger 
masses.  We  therefore,  instead  of  dealing  with  quantities  of  8  oz. 
weight  and  weights  of  1  lb.,  took  pieces  of  5  lbs.  and  6  lbs.  weight  each 
of  solid  cinder  (a  specimen*  of  which  I  send  you  ....  this 
day).  Had  my  faith  not  been  implicit,  I  might  have  been  deceived; . 
for  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3  pieces  went  to  the  bottom,  and  my  friend  said, 
'Now,  are  you  satisfied?'  and  I  replied,  'No,  lam  not.'  Imagine 
his  astonishment  when  No.  1  came  bounding  to  the  surface,  and 
floated  about  like  a  cork;  when  the  mass  of  heat  had  dissolved  the 
coating  which  it  clothed  itself  in  at  entering  the  bath,  and  began  to 
melt  the  original  piece ;  up  came  No.  2,  and  I  let  him  float  them 
about  on  the  surface  with  an  iron  rabble,  so  as  to  sear,  as  it 
were,  the  lesson  sufficiently  deep  into  his  soul  that  it  might  never 
be  erased.   .     .     . 

"Trusting  I  have  fully  complied  with  your  request,  and  that- 
the  whole  of  my  simple  tests  are  sufficiently  clear,     .... 

"I  am,  my  Dear  Doctor, 

"  Yours  respectfully, 

"JOSEPH  WHITLEY.'* 

•  Exhibited  to  the  members  at  the  Meeting. 


148  Philosophical  Society  of  UUi&jow. 

Dr.  Muirhead  added  the  following  remarks : — 

It  is  quite  unnecessary  for  me  to  eulogise  Mr.  Whitley's  energy 
and  acumen;  his  works  speak  for  themselves,  and,  as  you  cannot 
fail  to  observe,  do  not  lend  support  to }  Sir  William  Thomson's 
hypothesis  of  a  honeycombed  skeleton  of  the  earth  interiorly, 
formed  by  sinking  fragments  of  cooled  crust  These  experiments  by 
Mr.  Whitley,  and  his  remarks  on  crystalline  substances,  offer  an 
appropriate  opportunity  for  a  few  words  which  were  embodied  in  my 
paper  on  Energy,  but  deleted  from  the  paper,  being  too  lengthy.* 

I  look  upon  water  as  commencing  to  freeze  when  cooled  below 
4°  C,  holding  that  then  invisible  crystals  (crystalleited)  begin  to 
form  in  the  liquid,  because  then  crystal  lie  action  (the  mode  of  action 
concerned  in  the  formation  of  crystals),  being  no  longer  dominated 
and  held  in  abeyance  by  thermic  action,  takes  the  initiative,  so  that 
free  crystallettes  continue  to  be  formed  till,  on  the  reduction  of 
thermic  action  by  the  cooling  of  the  liquid  to  0°  Centigrade,  they 
coalesce  to  form  ice  on  the  least  external  disturbance  pushing  them 
into  contact,  otherwise  they  are  apt  to  remain  discrete. 

I  should  say  also,  that  even  on  the  withdrawal  of  heat  crystal- 
lettes cannot  form  if  the  water  be  prevented  from  expanding,  as,  for 
example,  when  it  is  enclosed  in  strong  metallic  vessels,  and  these 
are  chilled  down.  The  vessels,  it  seems  to  me,  are  not  burst  by 
the  freezing  water,  but  mainly  because  the  water  refusing  to 
contract,  the  vessels  rend  in  consequence  of  their  own  contraction 
around  the  unyielding  substance;  and  then  the  intensely  cooled 
water  shoots  out  through  the  rent,  freezing  instantaneously  on 
being  relieved  from  compression. 

The  click  and  sudden  expansion  observed  to  take  place  in  some 
red-hot  metallic  wires  when  cooled  to  a  certain  critical  point,  I  also 
attribute  to  crystallic  action  then  assuming  predominating  influence 
on  the  withdrawal  of  heat.  In  fact,  that  all  substances  capable  of 
crystallising  do  so  less  or  more  according  to  circumstances,  on 
sufficient  reduction  of  thermic  action,  because  crystallic  action 
being  then  no  longer  overpowered  is  free  to  compel  molecules  to 
obey  its  behests.  In  fine,  that  all  these  substances  on  cooling 
contract,  until  they  arrive  at  the  crystallising  point,  when  they 
behave  as  water  does — t.  e.,  increase  in  bulk  ;  so  that  water  forms 
no  exception  to  the  general  law.  These  views,  supported  by  Mr. 
Whitley's  experiments,  afford,  I  think,  a  plausible  explanation  of 
the  mode  in  which  basaltic  columns  are  formed,  taking  Giant's 
Causeway  as  a  typical  example.     The  mass  of  liquid  lava  as  it  cools 

*  See  page  110,  voL  X.  of  Proceedings, 


Mr.  Joseph  Whitley  on  the  Specific  Gravities  of  Metals.     149 

slowly  shrinks  into  roundish  subangular  portions  at  the  surface,  and 
continues  the  process  interiorly,  the  individual  columns  separating 
from  each  other  in  consequence  of  the  contraction.  In  each  of  the 
columns,  however,  when  sufficiently  cool,  crystallic  action  comes 
into  operation,  and  separates  some  eight,  ten,  or  more  inches  of 
the  cooler  tops  from  the  hotter  portions  of  the  columns  below. 
And  as  the  cooling  process  proceeds  inwards,  other  layers  are 
checked  off  successively  in  the  same  manner.  As  to  the  angularity 
of  the  columns  themselves,  we  may  suppose  it  induced  thus :  The 
layers  or  cheeses,  on  crystallising,  expand  against  their  roundish 
neighbours,  flattening  each  other,  and  squeezing  into  the  open 
spaces  left  unoccupied  by  the  cooling  columns,  which  we  have  seen 
shrink  as  they  cool  until  crystallic  action  sets  in  to  swell  them 
again.  Possibly  the  sharpness  of  outline  of  cast-iron  castings  has 
its  genesis  at  the  crystallising  period,  after  which  shrinking  again 
occurs. 

I  would  ask  geologists,  who  are  also  chemists,  to  give  considera- 
tion to  the  question,  How  far  has  crystalline  action  been  concerned 
in  the  upheaval  of  porphyritic  or  granitic  mountain  masses,  such  as 
Goat  Fell  and  Ben  Nevis  ?  Professor  James  Thomson  has  repeat- 
edly called  attention  to  work  done  by  crystallising  water  in 
elevating  ice  and  earth.  I  have  myself  observed  pavement  slabs 
upheaved  by  the  action  of  frost. 

It  may  be  thought  that  my  views  on  the  bursting  of  chilled 
cannon  balls  and  the  unequal  upheaval  of  portions  of  the  earth's 
surface  are  eminently  conflicting.  If,  however,  we  reflect  on  the 
many  successive  expansions  and  contractions  the  latter  is  subjected 
to  from  alternations  of  seasons,  <fcc.,  we  may  perhaps  see  a  way  out 
of  the  difficulty.  But  the  subject  is  too  large  for  entering  on  at 
present. 


130  Philosophical  &--iV/y  of  Glasgow. 


XV. — Notes  on  Some  of  the  Testing  Ojxrations  involved  in  carrying 
out  the  Provisions  of  tlte  Alkali  Acts  1863  and  1874. 
By  James  Mactear,  F.C.S.,  F.I.C. 


[Read  before  the  Chemical  Section  of  the  Society.  April  22,  1878.] 


Previous  to  the  passing  of  the  Alkali  Act  of  1863,  the  examination 
of  the  gases  passing  away  from  chemical  works  generally  was  a 
subject  about  which  but  little  information  was  to  be  had  even  by 
those  few  who  were  eager  to  obtain  it,  and  in  connection  with 
which  but  little  accurate  work  had  "been  done.  The  obtainment  of 
such  figures  as  would  serve  to  show  whether  or  no  the  requirements 
of  the  Act  of  1863  were  being  complied  with,  caused  the  introduc- 
tion of  various  methods  of  examination  of  the  escaping  vapours  and 
gases,  devised  both  by  ELM.  Inspectors  and  the  manufacturers. 
These  methods,  accurate  enough,  perhaps,  for  the  comparatively 
simple  requirements  of  the  1863  Act,  were  found  sadly  wanting  in 
many  respects  on  the  introduction  of  the  much  more  stringent  enact- 
ments of  the  Act  of  1874. 

The  1863  Act  dealt  only  with  the  evolution  of  hydrochloric  acid, 
and  defined  an  alkali  work  to  be  one  in  which  common  salt  was  de- 
composed with  sulphuric  acid,  the  acid  gases  evolved  in  this  operation 
only  being  under  surveillance.  The  Act  of  1874  very  properly 
amended  to  some  extent  this  condition  of  things,  and  brought  under 
the  cognisance  of  the  Inspector  of  Alkali  Works  the  escape  of  all 
noxious  vapours ;  but  from  some  cause  quite  inexplicable,  so  far  as 
has  yet  been  seen,  this  inspection  has  still  been  limited  to  alkali 
works  as  defined  by  the  previous  Act,  with  the  exception  that 
muriate  of  potash  is  looked  on  as  salt,  and  works  in  which  it  is 
decomposed  with  sulphuric  acid  are  included  in  the  list  of  alkali 
works.  Why  an  alkali  work  should  be  "cribbed,  cabined,  and 
confined"  as  regards  its  evolution  of  gases,  whilst  works  which 
manufacture  sulphuric  acid  for  sale  or  for  manure-making,  and 
which  in  most  cases  allow  much  more  escape  of  acid  and  other  gases 
in  proportion  than  do  alkali  works,  should  not  be  under  any  form  of 
control,  is,  I  think,  a  most  scandalous  condition  of  things.    I  know, 


Mr.  James  Mactear  on  Alkali  Testing  Operations.         151 

for  instance,  of  a  case  where  a  manufacturer  whose  salt  decomposi- 
tion was  small,  but  whose  escape  of  gases  from  his  vitriol  plant  was 
excessive,  actually  preferred  to  cease  decomposing  salt,  so  that  he 
might  have  his  name  removed  from  the  inspector's  roll,  and  be  at 
liberty  to  send  forth  an  unchecked  amount  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  in 
this  case  the  inspector  is  powerless  under  the  present  Acts.  The 
investigations  of  the  recent  Royal  Commission  will,  I  fully  believe, 
amend  this  position  of  affairs,  and  allow  the  "  saddle  to  be  put  on 
the  right  horse."  In  many  cases  an  alkali  manufacturer  is  blamed 
for  nuisance  which  is  actually  caused  by  other  works  around  him, 
which,  free  from  inspection,  send  out  many  times  the  amount  of 
acid  gases  that  would  be  allowed  if  they  were  under  the  same 
control  as  the  alkali  manufacturer. 

In  addition  to  acid  works  properly  so  called,  the  gases  evolved 
from  glassworks  and  potteries  ought  to  be  considered.  Where,  for 
instance,  sulphate  of  soda  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  glass,  the 
following  figures  represent  the  conditions  that  obtain  : — 

An  alkali  maker  produces,  let  us  assume,  100  tons  of  sulphate 
of  soda,  and  in  doing  this  he  allows  the  escape  of,  at  the  utmost, 
say  3  tons  of  acid  vapours  (both  hydrochloric  and  sulphuric 
acids). 

A  glassmaker  uses  100  tons  sulphate  of  soda,  and  in  converting 
it  into  glass  sends  out  all  the  sulphuric  acid  which  the  alkali 
manufacturer  has  so  carefully  substituted  for  the  hydrochloric 
acid  of  the  original  salt,  amounting  to  67*5  tons  of  sulphuric  acid, 
calculated  as  oil  of  vitriol,  tJie  wlwle  of  which  is  allowed  to  pass  into 
the  air,  and  which  is  evolved  in  a  considerably  shorter  period  of  time 
than  was  required  to  manufacture  the  sulphate  of  soda  originally. 

This  is  a  matter  not  understood  clearly  by  the  general  public, 
and  consequently  they  blame  those  whom  they  imagine  must  be  the 
cause  of  the  nuisance  of  escaping  gases,  in  many  cases  with  but 
Httle  reason. 

The  notes  I  purpose  bringing  before  you  refer  to  the  various  test- 
ing operations  which  we  now  employ  in  checking  and  estimating  the 
escape  of  the  various  gases  in  alkali  works,  and  they  are  of  course 
applicable  in  many  other  directions.  The  subject  has  been  a 
favourite  line  of  study  to  me  since  1866,  and  is  so  still,  and  many 
of  the  methods  and  apparatus  which  I  have  proposed  are  now 
extensively  used  in  connection  with  such  testing  operations. 

The  problem  which  is  put  before  us  is  how  to  estimate  the 
amount  of  the  various  gases  classed  as  noxious  vapours  escaping 
from  the  various  operations  of  an  alkali  work. 


152  Philosojthiral  Socittt/  of  Glasgow. 

These  gases  may  be  classed  under  three  heads, — 

a.  The  escape  of  acid  gases  from  the  apparatus  employed  in 

the  manufacture  of  oil  of  vitriol. 

These  gases  may  be  looked  on  as  simply  sulphuric  and 
nitrous  acids. 

b.  The  escape  of  acid  gases  in  the  conversion  of  common  salt, 

by  its  decomposition  with  sulphuric  acid,  into  sulphate  of 
soda  and  hydrochloric  acid. 

In  this  case  the  gas  may  be  looked  on  as  simply  hydro- 
chloric acid. 

c.  The  escape  of  acid  gases  from  the  combustion  of  coal  in  the 

various  operations  of  the  works. 

And  the  testing  operations  involved  in  the  examination  of  the 
escaping  gases  may  be  also  classified  into — 

A. — The  estimation  of  the  amount  of  noxious  gas  in  a  given 
}K>rtion  of  the  gases  escaping  from  the  works,  and  the  methods  and 
.'ipparatus  employed  for  this  purpose. 

B. — The  methods  of  obtaining  the  actual  amount  of  the  noxious- 
gases  escaping  in  weight  or  percentage  volume. 

A. — The  practice  formerly  was  to  aspirate  comparatively 
rapidly  a  fraction  of  a  cubic  foot  from  a  flue  or  chimney, 
and  this  plan  is  still  used  to  a  considerable  extent  for 
rapid  work  where  approximate  results  are  sufficient,  the 
gases  being  drawn  through  an  alkaline  solution,  and  the 
amount  estimated  by  precipitation  or  titration  in  the 
usual  way.  I  long  ago  pointed  out  the  fallacious  nature 
of  the  results  obtained  in  this  way  as  a  basis  of  calculation 
of  escapes,  and  devised  various  methods  of  aspirating  and 
measuring  much  larger  amounts  of  the  gases,  and  extend- 
ing the  operation  over  much  longer  periods  of  time,  so 
that  average  results  might  be  obtained.  I  had  made 
many  attempts  to  apply  to  the  measurement  of  the  gases- 
aspirated  from  a  flue  or  chimney  a  meter  such  as  is  used 
in  checking  the  consumption  of  coal  gas;  but  it  was  not 
till  early  in  1873  that  I  succeeded  in  completing  an 
arrangement  for  this  purpose,  which  has  proved  itself  of 
very  great  service,  both  to  myself  and  others,  in  the  ex- 
amination of  noxious  vapours  and  the  estimation  of 
impurities  in  the  air. 
Tho  apparatus  is  very  simple,  and  is  shown  in  the  following 
drawing. 


Mr.  James  Mactear  on  Alkali  Testing  Operations.         15:.; 

Mactear's   Self-Registering  Apparatus  for  Testing 

Flue  Gases. 


A.  Bunsen's  vacuum  pump. 

B.  Water  pipe  to  do. 

C.  Discharge  pipe  from  do. 

D.  Pipe  to  absorbing  apparatus. 

E.  Trap  to  collect  gases  passing  through  pump. 

F.  Overflow  pipe  for  water  from  pump. 

G.  Pipe  for  conveying  gascB  to  meter. 
H.  Ordinary  vet  gas  meter. 
I.  Absorbing  tubes. 
J.  Pipe  into  flue. 
K.  Flue  from  chambers. 

H  Escape  pipe  from  meter  into  the  atmosphere. 

Meter  and  absorbing  apparatus  in  locked  cupboards  with  glass  fronts. 

For  the  sake  of  description,  it  may  be  considered  in  three  portions : 

1.  Absorbing  Apparatus. 

2.  Aspirating         „ 

3.  Measuring         „ 

1.  Absorbing  Apparatus. — The  form  of  absorbing  apparatus  which 

may  be  used  will  vary  with  the  requirements  of  the  gases 
to  be  estimated,  the  simple  form  shown  at  I  in  drawing, 
of  tubes  and  a  wash  bottle,  suiting  very  well  indeed  for  such 
estimations  as  those  required  in  estimating  the  escape  of 
HC1  or  S03. 

2.  Aspirating  Apparatus. — This  is  simply  a  Bunsen  water-pump, 

A,  arranged  as  a  trompe\  The  pump  sucks  or  aspirates  the 
gases  through  the  absorbers,  and  then  the  air  and  water  are 
caught  in  a  separating  vessel,  £,  where  the  water  escapes  by 
the  pipe,  F,  while  the  air  or  gases  pass  on  to  the — 

3.  Measuring  Apparatus. — This  being  a  carefully  constructed  gas 

meter,  such  as  is  used  in  photometric  determinations,  and 


154 


Philosophical  Society  rf  Glasgow. 


with  the  index  arranged  to  read  to  the  one-hundredth  part 

of  a  cube  foot. 

The  speed  of  the  current  of  gas  can  be  regulated  to  a 

nicety  by  altering  the  supply  of  water,  a  very  convenient 

amount  for  chimney  testing  being  about  one  cubic  foot  per 

hour. 
The  absorbing  solutions  through  which  the  gases  have  been 
drawn  have  of  course  to  be  tested,  which  is  done  by  the  usual 
methods,  and  the  figures  thus  found  are  calculated  out  on  whatever 
basis  may  be  preferred.  I  myself  prefer,  in  most  cases,  that  of 
average  of  grains  per  cubic  foot,  and  an  aspiration  of  from  twelve 
hours  to  one  week,  according  to  circumstances  and  the  gas  to  be 
estimated. 

Table  I. 

Testings  for  SrEED  of  W.  H.  Chimney,  2S0  feet  in  height  Readings  taken 
30  feet  from  base,  at  eight  points  of  its  circumference,  and  at  each 
G  inches  of  radius. 


■ 

Cubic 

1   —    !  East. 

N'.E     North. 

X.W.    West. 

s.w. 

South.    S.E. 

Arerage 

Are*  of 

Feet  per 

i 

i 

1*27 

i 
1*27    3*5 

Speed. 

Bings. 
!  25*92 

Second. 

:  i 

3*72 

3-72    3  83 

•9    i  2  38 

2*47 

64*022 

4-03 

451    451 

3  38:  1*27 

127 

239    4*04 

315 

!  24*35 

76  702 

3  .  3-49 

433    571 

3*25    180 

313 

2*39    4*86 

3*62 

|  22-77 

82-427 

4    2  85 

433    006 

3-25    1*27 

2  39 

35      451 

3*52 

21-21 

74*659 

:   5 

3*25 

3  72    5  34 

2  39.  127 

2  39 

313    4*69 

3*27 

19*63 

64190 

G 

3-25 

285    5-56 

2*85      *9 

2-39 

3*5      4*51 

3*22 

,  18*07 

58185 

7  j  253 

2-02    451 

2*71  :  156 

2  39 

2*02    3*72 

2*68 

1  16*49 

44193 

8  '2-2 

1-28    4<H 

0*00    000 

2*39 

2*02    2*55 

1*81 

1  14  92 

27-005 

9 

2-2 

0*00    372 

21)2    156 

1*56 

2  02    2*85 

1-99 

13*36 

26*586 

10 

1  27 

0-00    2*02 

2  39  '  0*00 

2  02 

0*00    255 

1*28 

11*78 

15078 

11 

000 

156    2-02 

1-28    0-00 

1*28 

1*56    2  39 

1    1*26 

10*21 

12*864 

12 

o-oo 

300    285 

•9      0  00 

1*28 

0*00    2*39 

!    1*3 

8-64 

11*232 

13 

2-55 

1-28  12  02 

1-28  |  0*00 

1*81 

0  00    2  39 

j    1  41 

7-07 

9*968 

14 

•9 

1  -28  '  202 

0*00    0(K) 

■9 

2*02    239 

1    119 

5  49 

6-533 

15     1*27 

1-28    2  02 

■9      000 

1-28 

2*02    2*02 

1*35 

3-93 

5-305 

16    000 

"9    ,  1-27 

000    0*00 

2  02 

1*56    202 

•97 

2-36 

2*289 

17      - 

—   '2-85 

i 

0*00    0*00 

—   .2-85 
1 

•71 

•78 

•554 

1 

i 

226*98 

581*792 

i 

i 

i 

i 

Aver 

i 

age   . 

2*574 

Area  of  rings,  6  inches  broad  x  average  speed  of  ring,  -j-  total 

area  =  average  speed  of  chimney. 

Correction  for  tcmp.:-465°  F.  581*792  x  -7494  =  435-996  * 

2*574  x -7494  =  l-9289.t 

•  Total  cube  feet  discharged  per  second, 
f  Lineal  feet  per  second  =  average  speed. 


Mr.  James  Mactear  on  Alkali  Testing  Operations.         155 


B. — To  obtain  the  actual  amount  of  escape  in  weight  or  per- 
centage of  the  gases  escaping  in  flues  or  chimneys,  we 
must  determine  the  total  amount  of  gases  passing  in  a 
given  time;  and  this  is  a  most  difficult,  if  not  an  im- 
possible thing  to  do  with  accuracy.  None  of  the  formulas 
for  the  calculation  give  results  that  can  be  relied  on  for 
our  purpose,  however  useful  they  may  be  in  calculating 
the  capacity  for  work  of  a  given  chimney. 

Mr.  Fletcher's  form  of  anemometer  gives  good  results ; 
but  as  it  only  indicates  the  speed  of  the  one  little  spot 
where  the  tubes  are,  it  requires  an  enormous  amount  of 
labour  to  determine  by  it  the  speed  of  gases  in  a  chimney. 
The  assumption  that  the  average  speed  is  at  one-third  of 
the  radius  (as  indicated  by  Peclet  in  his  Traits  de  la 
Chaleur)  is  not  supported  by  the  figures  obtained  in 
practice,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  annexed  tables. 

Table  II. 

{Extracted  from  the  Eleventh  Annual  Report  of  tJte  Inspector  under 

the  Alkali  Acts,  1863  and  1874.) 

44  Chimney  Tested  by  Dr.  Hobson,  10  feet  in  diameter,  tested  inwards  each 
44  6  inches.  It  is  not  corrected  for  temperature,  it  is  given  as  a  proof  of 
"  a  very  uniform  velocity." 


i" 

Inches. 

Velocity 
lu  Feet. 

N. 

Velocity 

in  Feet. 

8. 

Averajro 
Velocity. 

3-  • 
4-71 
429 
3  41 
3  58 
3  68 
3  56 
3  84 
3  65 
3  53 
3*53 

Diameter. 

Area. 

Area 

by 
Velocity. 

3,300 
9,598 
7,775 
5,396 
4,859 
4,159 
3t221 
2,607 
1,650 
801-3 
99-4 

0 
6 
12 
18 
24 
30 
j    36 
42 
48 
54 
60 

7-222 
6189 
4*604 
4-777 
4-514 
4-423 
4423 
3  935 
3  935 
3612 

2212 
2-389 
2-212 
2-389 
2-855 
2-709 
3-255 
3-378 
3127 
3  497 

120-114 

114-102 

102—  90 

90-  78 

7.S—  66 

66-  54 

54—  42 

42—  30 

30—  18 

18—    6 

6—    0 

1,100 
2,038 
1,812 
1,582 

1,357 
1,130 
905 
679 
452 
227 
28 

Total  area,  120 

>  inches  dial 

neter, 

11,310 

43,466 

43,466     Q  . 

J-at(.  =  3-84  average  speed. 
1  l,olu 

*  The  first  line  of  figures  shows  an  average  speed  of  3  feet  per  second.  There 
is  no  trace  of  how  this  figure  was  obtained,  although  all  the  other  tests  are 
given. 


IV* 


m*.-s*:.\'..u  Sx\tfv  cf  GIoswk. 


The  >ariations,  a*  *i*l  be  seen,  are  very  considerable,  and  the 
i\\Uo\th\<  uWo  illustrate*  i«o  effect  on  the  usual  method  of  exami- 
nation of  the  \ariaiior.  in  speed  of  the  chimney  referred  to  in 
IW.e  11  ,  as»nnnr.£  Out  in  *ac!h  cubic  foot  of  chimney  gases  there 
wiv  contained  the  amount  of  HC1  allowed  by  the  Act  of  1874, 
<m\uO  Jo    -  of  a  £V*lft. 


7*rir  111. 


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J. 


Mr.  James  Mactear  on  Alkali  Testing  Operations.         157 

The  accuracy  of  the  arrangement  for  aspirating  and  measuring 
the  gases  which  I  have  described  is  shown  by  the  following  figures, 
the  difference  between  the  test  obtained  by  it  and  a  series  of  half- 
hourly  tests  being  only  '002. 


Table  V. 


F  Chimney— HC1  in  Escaping  Gases. 


Half-Hourly  Tests,  taken  in  same  way  as  Regular  Tent. 

Gre.  HOI 
per  O.  Ft 

Ore.  HOI 
per  C.  Ft 

9.0    a.m. 

2*4  in.   x  400  =    9G0  cubic  in.  contents 

03 

•054 

•J.  nHf        )  f 

5*4  ,,    x     , 

,    =2160        „ 

•07 

05C 

10.0      „ 

2-8  , 

,    x     , 

,   =  H20        „ 

04 

•061 

10.30    „ 

32  , 

.i    *     , 

,   =■  1280        „ 

•04 

•054 

11.0      „ 

4-0  , 

»    x     , 

,   =1600 

•04 

•043 

11.30    „ 

3-9  , 

»      *       I 

,   =  1560 

•05 

055 

12.0    noon 

40  , 

»    x     , 

,   =  1600 

07 

•075 

12.30  p.m. 

3-5  , 

n      X      , 

,   =1400        „ 

065 

•080 

10      „ 

4*0  , 

„    x     , 

,   =  1600        „ 

•08 

•086 

1.30    „ 

4-5 

>i     x      , 

,   =1800        ,, 

•1 

•096 

2.0      ,f 

38  , 

„    x     , 

,   =  1520        „ 

•12 

136 

2.30    „ 

4-8  , 

.i     x      , 

,   =  1920        ,, 

•1 

•090 

3.0      „ 

3-4  , 

>.     x     , 

,   -  1360        „ 

•07 

•089 

0O75 

Continuous  test  by  meter  from  9.5  a.m.  till  3.5  p.m.. 

*                 • 

0-073 

Regular  test,  taken  at  9  a.  m.,  2*6  cube  feet, 

....   .. 

•                 • 

0054 

The  calculation  of  the  amount  of  gases  passing  from  the  amount 
of  oxygen  found  in  them  is  one  of  the  best  and  easiest  methods  for 
practical  purposes;  and  I  have  here  a  piece  of  apparatus  which  is 
used  for  the  purpose  of  estimating  the  oxygen  in  flue  or  other  gases. 
Shortly  stated,  it  consists  of  a  measuring  tube  and  an  absorber;  the 
gas  to  be  tested  is  measured  in  the  tube  (which  is  graduated  to 
show  per  cent,  direct),  and  passed  into  the  absorber;  then,  after 
absorption,  again  passed  into  the  measuring  tube,  and  the  loss  in 
bulk  read  off  The  apparatus  of  Orsat  is  constructed  on  this  system 
(first  described  by  Schloesing  and  Holland),  which  is  now  exten- 
sively employed  for  the  analysis  of  products  of  combustion,  an 
elaborate  series  of  analyses  having  been  made  by  its  means,  of  the 
gases  of  combustion  from  various  classes  of  fuel  in  locomotives,  the 


158  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

whole  operation  being  conducted  in  the  van  attached  to  the  engine. 
The  COg,  CO  and  O  unconsumed  are  all  estimated  with  great 
rapidity,  and  its  use  is  likely,  in  many  cases,  to  lead  to  a  consider- 
able  economy  of  coal. 

The  plan  of  obtaining  the  speeds  of  a  flue  or  chimney  proposed 
by  my  friend  Mr.  Kuhlmann  of  Lille,  of  using  coloured  vapours,  such 
as  N204,  or  those  of  bromine  or  iodine,  has  given  very  good  results, 
but  is  apt  to  give  the  speed  a  little  too  high,  as  the  gases  thus  used 
rush  along  in  the  quickest  part  of  the  current,  and  do  not  give  the 
average. 

The  escape  of  hydrochloric  acid  has  been  so  much  reduced  that 
in  all  well  regulated  works  it  does  not  call  for  much  anxiety,  the 
amount  of  *2  of  a  grain  per  cube  foot  being  very  small  indeed:  but 
it  is  different  with  the  escapes  of  acid  gases  from  the  apparatus  used 
in  the  manufacture  of  sulphuric  acid.  It  is  a  disgraceful  fact  that 
it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  some  of  the  manufacturers  of  sulphuric 
acid  to  have  an  amount  of  escape  equal  to  one-tenth  of  the  acid  which 
their  consumpt  of  sulphur  should  yield,  and  even  as  much  as  one- 
fourth  has  been  escaping  in  some  cases.  This  is  due  chiefly  to  the 
want  of  theoretical  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  manager  or 
foreman,  and  will  no  doubt  quickly  disappear  when  such  works  come 
under  inspection. 

The  escape  of  sulphuric  gases,  calculated  as  oil  of  vitriol,  at  the 
various  works  under  my  management,  has  been  very  low  indeed. 
At  St.  Rollox  for  the  last  year  the  average  loss  (which  is  tested  and 
calculated  for  each  set  of  chambers  every  day)  is  only  about  n^ 
of  the  sulphuric  acid  produced. 

The  method  of  testing  and  calculating  is,  although  apparently 
complicated,  really  very  simple.  It  is  fully  described  in  a  paper  which 
I  communicated  to  the  Newcastle  Chemical  Society,  and  of  which 
there  is  a  copy  in  the  Philosophical  Society's  library. 

The  principle  is  that  of  calculating  from  the  oxygen  found  in 
the  escaping  gases  from  the  vitriol  chambers  the  amount  of  gases 
passing,  and  the  quantity  of  pyrites  or  of  sulphur  burned  being 
known,  the  loss  of  HgSO^  is  easily  calculated  as  per  cent,  on  the 
sulphur  bought  or  burned,  as  may  be  most  suitable. 

I  prefer  to  lay  down  each  day  the  loss  in  diagrammatic  form, 
such  as  I  have  here,  each  diagram  being  for  one  month,  and  showing 
in  lines  the  loss  expressed  in  inches.  This  brings  home  to  even 
the  most  illiterate  of  chamber  foremen  the  result  of  their  opera- 
tions. 


Mr.  James  Magtear  on  Allah  Testing  Operations.         159 

This  method  of  testing  has  been  very  widely  adopted  along  with 
my  meter  arrangement,  and  has  everywhere  given  the  most  satisfac- 
tory results.  I  do  not  believe  it  is  possible,  without  such  a  check 
as  this  system  of  testing  affords,  to  prevent  considerable  losses 
taking  place,  as  I  have  found  that  even  when  chambers  were  in 
very  good  condition,  as  judged  by  the  ordinary  methods  of  inspection, 
considerable  escapes  of  both  nitrous  and  sulphurous  gases  have 
been  taking  place. 

The  nitrous  compounds  escaping  from  vitriol  chambers  are  not 
worth  calling  a  nuisance  in  most  cases,  although  they  are  a  cause 
of  great  loss  to  the  manufacturer,  and  they  should  always  be  esti- 
mated, as  the  saving  in  nitrate  of  soda  will  far  more  than  counter- 
balance the  cost  of  testing. 

The  best  method  for  the  estimation  is,  in  my  opinion,  that  of 
determining  the  nitrous  compounds,  as  ammonia,  by  the  distillation 
process  with  caustic  soda  (or  potash),  zinc,  and  iron. 

I  have  here  the  apparatus  we  employ,  and  I  can  recommend  the 
process  as  being  most  accurate  when  carefully  used;  and  as  no 
process  can  be  expected  to  give  good  results  unless  carefully  used, 
nothing  more  can  be  required  of  it. 

The  difference  between  good  results  and  bad,  in  the  working  of 
vitriol  chambers,  so  far  as  nitrate  of  soda  is  concerned,  may  be  as 
say  3*5  to  7,  or  more;  and  this  being  an  important  element  in  the 
cost  of  manufacture,  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  consumpt  at  the 
lowest  point  possible  is  self-evident. 

As  regards  the  sulphuric  acid  gases  evolved  from  the  combustion 
of  coal,  the  table  on  next  page  will  be  interesting. 

It  is  usual  to  take  1-30  cube  feet  per  lb.  of  coal  as  the  amount  of 
air  passing  through  a  furnace,  and  required  for  the  actual  combus- 
tion, while  the  excess  air  is  often  assumed  at  the  same  figure,  so 
that  the  total  bulk  is  equal  to  300  cube  feet.  This  is,  however, 
under  the  mark  considerably  in  the  case  of  the  furnaces  employed 
in  chemical  works;  and  we  may  take  400  cube  feet  as  the  amount 
in  general  in  such  furnaces  of  good  construction.  This,  at  an 
average  of  1*50  per  cent,  of  sulphur  in  the  coal,  would  be  equal  to> 
*655  grains  S03  per  cubic  foot,  assuming  the  bulk  of  escaping  gases 
to  be  that  of  the  air  employed  in  the  combustion. 

The  public  do  not  seem  to  be  aware  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
evolution  of  sulphur  gases  from  the  combustion  of  coal.  If  we 
assume  that  the  inhabitants  of  Glasgow  consume  on  an  average  1  £ 
tons  of  coal  per  annum,  and  that  the  population  of  the  city  and 


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Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals.      161 

suburbs  is  about  670,000,  this  would  give,  with  coal  at  1  per  cent, 
of  sulphur,  over  30,000  tons  of  oil  of  vitriol  poured  into  the 
atmosphere  from  household  fires  alone.  In  the  case  of  London,  the 
coal  consumed  is  about  8,000,000  tons;  and  calculated  in  the  same 
way,  this  would  give  245,000  tons  of  oil  of  vitriol,  quantities  before 
which  the  amount  of  noxious  vapours  evolved  from  well-conducted 
chemical  works  "pale  their  ineffectual  fires." 


XVI. — On  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals  from  the  Carboniferous 
Limestone  of  Scotland;  with  a  short  sketch  of  the  various  methods 
by  which  it  has  been  attempted,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  to 
delineate  the  internal  structure  of  Fossil  Corals  of  that  Geological 
Period.  By  Mr.  James  Thomson,  F.G.S.,  Corresponding 
Member  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Sciences  of  Liege,  and 
Honorary  Member  of  the  Royal  Ducal  Society  of  Jena. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  May  1,  1878.] 


Introduction. 

I  have  long  been  persuaded  of  the  desirability  of  an  improved 
method  for  the  delineation  of  structural  details  in  all  cases  in  which 
internal  structure  is  of  essential  importance  for  the  proper  identi- 
fication of  genera  or  species.  More  especially  is  this  necessary  for 
the  palaeontologist  when  investigating  such  organic  remains  as  the 
fossil  corals  of  the  carboniferous  period.  I  am  well  aware  that  in 
the  works  of  De  Koninck,  Milne-Edwards,  J.  Haime,  and  others, 
external  forms  have  been  faithfully  and,  in  many  cases,  beautifully 
delineated,  and  also  that  in  many  instances  the  details  of  internal 
structure  have  been  fairly  represented;  but  when  many  such 
delicate  and  intricate  structures  as  are  found  amongst  the  car- 
Vou  XI.— No.  1.  m 


162  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

boniferous  corals  have  to  be  exhibited,  the  ordinary  methods 
of  delineation  fall  far  short  of  the  mark.  In  many  of  these 
corals,  indeed,  the  details  are  so  minute  that  the  ordinary 
methods  in  .  use  for  the  illustration  of  palteontological  works- 
would  either  absolutely  fail,  or  would  involve  a  great  expense. 
I  may  refer,  by  way  of  corroboration  of  this  statement,  to- 
Fig.  1,  Plate  I.,  which  exhibits  the  internal  structure  of  the 
type  species  of  the  genus  which  is  the  subject  of  the  present 
communication,  and  which  is  so  minute  in  its  details  that  it 
cannot  be  defined  at  all,  except  by  the  aid  of  a  lens  of  consider- 
able magnifying  power. 

During  the  twenty  years  I  have  laboured  upon  the  classification 
of  the  carboniferous  corals,  I  have  accordingly  sought  to  attain  to- 
a  simple,  accurate,  and  comparatively  inexpensive  method  whereby 
even  the  most  complicated  internal  structure  of  that  class  of  fossils, 
may  be  delineated  upon  paper,  and  so  readily  brought  under  the 
cognisance  of  palaeontologists.  The  illustrations  which  accompany 
this  communication  will,  I  trust,  be  accepted  as  a  proof  that  my 
efforts  in  this  direction  have  at  length  been  rewarded  with  success  -T 
and  if  it  appear  that  this  success  has  been  somewhat  tardily 
achieved,  I  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  remark  that  my  studies 
have  been  pursued  amidst  great  difficulties,  and  only  during  the 
leisure  hours  of  an  active  business  life,  during  which  I  have  also* 
had  to  collect  my  own  fossil  specimens,  and  to  prepare,  in  most 
cases,  sections  of  them  with  my  own  hands.  I  may  also  add,  as 
showing  the  amount  of  material  now  in  my  possession  for  use  in 
the  classification  of  the  carboniferous  corals,  that  during  the  course 
of  my  studies  I  have  either  prepared  or  have  superintended  the 
preparation  of  more  than  eleven  thousand  sections  of  corals.  Many 
of  these  sections  have  been  found  to  be  valueless,  in  consequence  of 
imperfect  fossilisation ;  but  from  amongst  them  I  have  been  able  to> 
select  and  classify  upwards  of  four  thousand  five  hundred  speci- 
mens, [many  of  which,  however,  are  so  related  to  each  other  as 
to  be  fairly  classed  as  "varieties."  In  no  case  have  I  based  a 
specific  difference  on  anything  short  of  a  well-marked  difference 
in  structure. 

In  my  first  attempts  to  procure  imprints  of  the  sections  of  corals 
I  consulted  the  late  Dr.  John  Taylor,  Professor  of  Natural  Philo- 
sophy in  the  Andersonian  University,  Glasgow,  who  suggested  to 
me  the  use  of  photography,  and  I  accordingly  had  a  number  of  the 
most  promising  specimens  photographed.     In  consequence,  how- 


Mil.  James  Thomson  on  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals.      163 

ever,  of  the  specimens  being  opaque,  the  results  were  not  at  all 
satisfactory. 

I  then  selected  some  of  the  most  perfect  specimens,  and  having 
cut  thin  slices  off  them,  about  one -eighth  of  an  inch  thick,  which  I 
attached  to  small  blocks  of  glass,  I  produced  semi-transparent 
sections  by  grinding.  These  I  transferred  to  plates  of  patent  plate- 
glass,  and  exposed  to  sunlight  upon  sheets  of  sensitised  paper  in  a 
photographer's  printing-frame.  The  results  were  quite  satisfactory 
so  far  as  the  accurate  representation  of  structure  was  concerned, 
but  the  method  was,  nevertheless,  open  to  at  least  two  fatal 
objections.  In  the  first  place,  the  labour  and  expense  of  preparing 
the  transparent  sections  was  greater  than  I  could  afford  to  incur ; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  the  sections  were  liable  to  change  their 
colour  when  exposed  to  light 

This  process  having  afforded  correct  representations  of  structure 
I  was,  however,  slow  to  abandon  it,  notwithstanding  the  great 
labour  involved  in  the  preparation  of  the  thin  sections  referred 
to,  and  I  modified  it  in  so  far  that  I  first  took  photographs  of 
the  thin  sections  by  transmitted  light,  and  then  produced  prints 
from  these  in  the  usual  way.  The  results  were,  as  before,  satis- 
factory with  regard  to  accuracy  of  delineation,  but  they  were  not 
permanent. 

Another  modification  consisted  in  photographing  the  thin  sec- 
tions, and  then  printing  by  the  "  Carbon  Process."  I  was  pleased 
to  find  that  the  results  were  in  every  way  satisfactory,  and  that 
the  only  serious  objection  then  remaining  lay  in  the  excessive 
labour  required  for  the  preparation  of  the  sections.  I  also 
found  subsequently  that  the  "Autotype  Process"  was  not  in- 
ferior to  the  "  Carbon  Process "  in  the  fidelity  and  permanency  of 
its  results. 

Satisfied  at  length,  after  much  labour,  that  no  process  could 
well  be  considered  practicable  which  involved  the  preparation  of 
transparent  sections,  I  experimented  with  ordinary  sections,  the 
polished  faces  of  which  I  etched  with  dilute  acids,  in  the  hope  that 
I  should  thereby  remove  the  calcareous  matter  constituting  the 
"  intercellular  spaces,"  and  have  the  siliceous  matter  constituting 
the  "  walls  of  the  corallum "  left  standing  in  relief  I  hoped  to 
prepare  in  this  simple  way  a  plate  from  which  impressions  in  wax 
or  other  suitable  material  might  be  taken,  and  which  could  there- 
fore be  reproduced  to  any  extent  by  the  ordinary  method  of 
electrotyping.  The  results,  however,  did  not  correspond  with  my 
hopes,  and  the  action  of  the  acid  was  very  far  from  producing  the 


it 4  *«...-.     -.ii    ^»:t.:i      '    *j.±>? .■>-. 


^rp  disdz^.z:  rtf-w-ff  s.  -  iz.-erce-ll'ilar  spices "  and  "  walls 
of  ti*  MnLl^zL"  .a  wii.-l  I  iai  .salcslated.  I  had  failed  to 
apt  r=c2*te  tie  x^zirf£r:cL5  irr^ri^ariii'e*  that  occur  in  the  process 
of  f:«s£lis»s£»:=. 

To  tie  *iz^e  A:ise  was  also  «e  lie  £iil^re  of  my  next  attempt 
-o  obsaiz.  izirressiris  iz>  wax  &*■  #ye«roryT«e  purposes.  In  this 
case  I  ac^jit  to  cccair  a  scr^e  rcesentirLi:  the  structural  details 
of  lie  ecral  iz>  relief  by  piesocrariLLZi:  a  section  of  it  with 
bzcirociate  of  pxasi  ar.i  felatLze. 

It  wotili  be  tedLvis  to  eji^iziersse  the  various  other  unsuccessful 
attempt  I  n^ade  in  lie  war  of  cbcairiz.^  casts  fitted  for  the 
accurate  repr>i;iction  of  strccrcral  details :  bet  I  may  say.  generally, 
that  these  attempts  were  very  n-xsierocLS.  that  they  occupied  a  large 
portion  of  ciy  leisure  time  &*•  several  years,  and  that  they  involved 
a  very  considerable  amount  of  expense.  Oat  of  these  laborious 
attempts,  however,  there  tnally  emerged  the  process  which  I  now 
employ,  and  lor  wiici  I  i\.*ici  the  merit  of  being  applicable  to 
the  accurate  delineation  o:  the  minutest  details  of  coralline 
structure,  and  of  K*ing  comparatively  inexpensive.  This  pro- 
cess I  have  now  used  for  some  years  for  the  production  of 
lithographic  plates,  and  quite  recently  I  have  succeeded  in 
modifying  it  so  as  to  produce  electrotypes  for  use  in  the  ordi- 
nary printing  press. 

Of  the  nrst  form  of  this  process.  I  may  say  that  it  consists  in 
taking  an  impression  of  the  structure  upon  a  sensitised  copper 
plate,  that  this  impression  is  then  engraved  upon  the  plate,  and 
that  a  transfer  is  thence  taken  and  put  upon  a  lithographic  stone. 
Of  the  second  form  of  it.  I  may  say  that  an  impression  is  taken 
upon  a  plate  of  sensitised  copper,  that  the  plate  is  next  engraved 
and  etched  very  slowly,  but  somewhat  more  deeply  than  in 
the  first  case,  that  a  cast  in  wax  is  taken  from  the  plate,  and 
that  from  this  again  is  produced  an  electrotype  in  the  ordinary 
way.* 

The  fact  that  the  process  which  I  have  now  so  far  described  is 
applicable  not  merely  to  the  delineation  of  structures  presented 
in  my  own  favourite  pursuits,  but  also  to  the  delineation  of  the 
minute  structures  which  present  themselves  to  the  anatomist,  the 
physiologist,  the  pathologist,  the  botanist,  and  many  others,  is,  I 

*  I  beg  to  offer  my  cordial  thanks  to  Mr.  W.  C.  Roberts,  F.R.S.,  of  the  Royal 
Mint,  London,  to  Mr.  James  Napier,  BothweU,  and  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith, 
Hectroplater,  Glasgow,  for  their  valuable  assistance  in  matters  connected  with 


Mr.  James  Thomson  m  a  New  Genus  of  Jiugme  Corah.      165 

conceive,  one  of  its  chief  merits.  The  full  development  of  the 
process,  and_its  application  to  all  the  uses  of  which  it  is  capable, 
can,  of  course,  never  come  from  me.  I  can  only  hope  to  pat  on 
record  by  means  of  it  the  structural  details  of  as  many  of  the 
carboniferous  corals  as  my  circumstances  will  permit;  but  I  may  be 
also  allowed  to  cherish  tbe  hope  that  science  generally  will  yet  derive 
profit  from  my  labours,  in  tbe  way  of  devising  a  process  which 
makes  it  possible  to  disseminate,  at  comparatively  slight  expense, 
among  investigators  accurate  delineations  of  the  minute  structures 
that  concern  them. 

Genus  Albebtia.  Thomson.  Sp.  no  v. 
Generic  C/taraelers. — Corallum  simple,  cylindro-conical,  curved, 
and  tall ;  epitheca  thin,  with  minute,  crennlate,  encircling  lines, 
and  irregular  ambulations  of  growth  ;  calice  circular,  nhnllow,  and 
in  some  forms  everted,  exhibiting  in  the  centre  of  its  floor  a  series 
of  irregular  ridges,    which  more  or  less    converge   inwards  and 


downwards  from  the  inner  margin  of  the  primary  septa  to  near 
the  centre  of  the  calice.  There  is  a  depressed  space  in  the  centre, 
formed  by  concave  tabulm,  which  in  a  transverse  section  are  seen  to 
form  tbe  walls  of  the  depression,  concavity  outwards  and  down- 
wards. The  septa  are  thin,  and  of  two  orders;  the  primary  never 
extend  farther  inwards  than  to  the  outer  margin  of  the  central  area, 
and  exhibit  laminae  for  about  half  their  length  from  the  inner  . 
margin,  while  towards  the  periphery  they  are  thin  and  flexuous. 


Ififi  I'Uilmphical  Society  of  Glasgmr. 

TIl(>  secondary  septa  aro  minute  and  hardly  recognisable;  they 
nra  united  by  interseptal  dissepiments,  which  are  sparse  near  the 
inner  margin  of  the  primary  septa,  and  abundant  in  the  external 
area,  whom  they  form  a  dense  vesicular  tissue.  The  fossula  is 
usually  small,  but  well  marked. 

longitudinal  section  triareal,  central  area  composed  of  thin  dis- 
continuous coliitnellartan  lines,  and  each  is  united  by  concave 
tabu  Isi,     Tito  inter  media  to  area  ("  interlocular  area  ")  is  composed 


of  aw\i'\  tabula*,  eotivnwity  upwards,  and  which  unite  the  inner 
olid*  01  0»»  primacy  nepta.  The  outer  are*  ("interseptal  area") 
u  HtH'iipiwI  by  a  swtw  of  more  or  less  irregular  lenticular  con- 
vex eelU,  ts«v«iljf  upwards  and  inwards,  and  arranged  in  oblique 

Two  (seiiim  •'•■^-'*>A  *bt«"h  1  now  propose  to  establish,  is  for  the 
mvptiou  of  *  larjpc  jjroup  of  «\>ral*  presenting  a  combination  of 
ptmiwleni  tU*U».!*.i  different  ftotu  any  of  the  existing  genera.  It 
iwaj ,  li«*  0\  or,  fce  regarded  as  in  some  report*  intermediate  between 
(Wjfouu*  A  t#*.i*sn\}£*iM  and  the  genu*  »'j*fc!ii.-ji*j*Ara.*  and  as 
«*Uihi(w^»mu*iure»»hioai*lo*rfy  link  ii  tosh*  gvnus  Auk-ply!]**. 

iij|»lh»wt  K.  IV  UssUuv*)  rf  S»  O.W*  for  t*jty«Mr-C- 


Mn.  James  Thomson  oh  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals.      167 

As  regards  its  relationships,  it  may  be  distinguished  by  characters 
of  a  fundamental  nature. 

Firstly , — The  corallum  in  Albertia,  like  that  of  Aspidiophyllutu 
and  Cymatiophyllum,  is  triareal  in  composition.  Indeed,  there  is  a 
striking  similarity  in  the  external  and  intermediate  areas  in  the 
three  groups.  The  chief  characters  which  distinguish  Albertia  are  the 
form  and  arrangement  of  the  lamellae  or  ridges  in  the  central  area, 
which  are  slightly  raised  above  the  inner  margin  of  the  primary 
septa,  and  in  outline  are  more  or  less  round,  and  formed  by  convex 
plates,  the  convexities  being  parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  ridges. 
The  ridges  converge  inwards  and  downwards,  but  stop  short  of  the 
centre,  and  are  attached  to  the  outer  margin  of  the  depression,  or 
shallow  cup,  in  the  centre  of  the  floor  of  the  calice. 

The  walls  of  the  central  depression  are  formed  of  concave  tabula?, 
which  converge  inwards  and  downwards,  the  centre  of  which,  in  a 
longitudinal  section,  is  seen  to  consist  of  minute  transverse  tabula* 
(PL  III.,  Fig.  3a).  The  structural  details,  as  exhibited  in  the 
central  area  of  the  corallum,  are,  I  believe,  sufficient  to  warrant  us 
in  separating  Albertia  from  the  genus  Aspidiophyllum.  In  the 
latter,  the  boss  in  the  centre  of  the  calice  is  helmet-shaped  in 
outline,  and  dome-shaped  on  the  ventral  or  concave  side  of  the 
corallum,  and  slopes  down  on  the  dorsal  or  convex  side  to  the 
inner  margin  of  the  primary  septa.  The  free  edges  of  the  vertical 
lamellae  of  the  central  area  appear  on  the  crown  of  the  boss  as  so 
many  keeled  ridges,  and  the  median  ridge  passes  over  the  boss  and 
descends  into  the  fossula  on  the  dorsal  side  of  the  corallum,  forming 
a  more  or  less  continuous  median  line. 

Secondly, — The  genus  A  Ibertia  agrees  with  CymatiopJiylkim  in  the 
triareal  arrangement  of  the  structure,  and,  as  I  believe  that  it  is 
the  central  area  alone  where  true  generic  distinction  exists,  the 
only  point  which  I  deem  it  necessary  to  notice  is  the  central  area, 
which  in  CymatiophyUum  is  slightly  raised  above  the  inner  margin 
of  the  primary  septa,  and  is  formed  of  vertical  lamellae,  the  superior 
-extremity  of  which  appears  as  wavy  ridges,  and  which  pass  from 
the  inner  margin  of  the  primary  septa  to  the  centre  of  the  floor  of 
the  calice,  the  cut  edges  of  the  vertical  lamellae  appearing  in  trans- 
verse sections,  as  so  many  waving  or  bending  lines,  which  pass  from 
the  margin  of  the  central  area  to  its  centre.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  Albertia  the  ridges  that  are  seen  in  the  central  area  fall  short 
of  the  centre  or  floor  of  the  calice,  and  the  centre  of  the  shallow 
cup  or  depression  is  closed  in  with  minute  tabulae,  a  feature  which 
Also  characterises  the  genus  Aulophyllum. 


Turu^ — Titer?  3&Za  mnr  sj  i«  mnsiiiiirei  the  genus  Aulo- 
p&yuifTi*  zl  r«scecr:  :c  wirirh  iliif  juIj  p«:o^  wiiri  calls  for  special 
rennizk  is  lii*  L*ur*»aiRi;a  n  liiu  aaur*  :t  lilt*  ojue. 

Fimr^'^ — Lx  li*  r*ms  J.tiupk.jiZvam  zh&  -astcre  of  the  corallum 
is  -iscMttsiced.  &ai£  iae  per^oerr  is  iraueti  .;£  miixte  and  closely 
iraypi  laaueZje.  wi  vn  pass  HLfcrpiy  Lrwxwaris*  and  are  attached 
to  lie  <2abo^e.  wn  :i:a  5:cm  ia«*  ix:r  :c  u«  central  area.  The 
sipeior  -txsrwniry  :c  Hist  .tciZth  jfisejiis  ix  oinZme  the  form  of  a 
dc<L2u£  cup*  a  v»*ry  Tmurk-Ki  iiai^Tircitra.  As  En  -i3*r*iia.  the  calices 
are  shallow  an»i  ai>:c»  :c  jvsb  *T>*rtotL  and  lib*  superior  extremities 
of  the   T^rscal  lameil*  are   cccscnnzcast.  raiad  in  outline,  and 


It  will  ul-zs  us  speared  zhaz  tae  grcop  fccms  a  natural  and 
distinct  2?e.:x&»  selocginx  so  wnSat  I  sl&t  sat  t&ere  are  some  of  the 
tallest  and  does  ei*££an?  t":r3LJ  th&s  have  v«  come  under  mv 
observation-  See  PL  L.  Fir*,  t  i  Ll»  I  mar  add.  however, 
that  betbre  essabLishinx  «n:->  new  z^n*.  I  telt  the  desirability 
of  submitting  ty^*  specim-ens  to  two  eminent  palaeontologists, 
on~  C:nunen^al.  and  the  ocher  British,  who.  after  a  careful 
evarr.  >  .td^n  of  th^se  and  of  types  of  all  the  existing  genera,  and 
also,  indeed,  of  ochrrs  which  I  hope  soon  to  consider,  separated 
this  group  as  being  distinct  and  easily  recognisable  bj  its  structural 
details.  At  the  same  time.  I  am  convinced  that,  when  the  investi- 
gation of  carboniferous  corals  is  more  matured,  it  will  be  imperative 
to  classify  many  species  as  varieties.*  It  will  probably  be  found 
also  that  there  are  transitions  between  genera  that  at  present  are 
regarded  as  closely  allied.  Indeed  there  appears  in  many  of  the 
groups  to  be  so  natural  and  intimate  a  relation  that  it  will  be  diffi- 
cult to  define  the  transitions  even  between  one  genus  and  that  of 
another.  But  for  the  present  it  is  necessary  that  certain  closely 
related  forms  should  be  grouped  into  families  and  genera ;  and 
the  group  which  forms  the  subject  of  the  present  communication 
has  been  selected  from  amongst  fifty  or  sixty  type  specimens  which 
form  natural  and  central  links  in  a  connected  series,  and  which  may 
be  regarded  as  centres  from  which  the  group  diverges  in  different 
directions. 

Albertia  Victoria  Regis.     T/tomson.     Sp.  no  v. 
Plate  L,  Figs.  1  and  1a,  and  Plate  II.,  Fig.  1. 

Specific   Characters. — Coral lum   simple,   cylindro-conical,   curved, 
*  In  my  own  cabinet  there  are  no  fewer  than  twelve  hundred  varieties. 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals.      16  9- 

and  tall;  epitheca  thin,  with  crenulate  encircling  striae,  and  irregular 
annotations  of  growth;  calice  absent,  transverse  section  semicircular. 
The  septa  are  numerous  and  delicate,  and  lamellar  for  two-thirds  of 
their  length  from  the  inner  margin;  in  the  outer  area  they  are  thin 
and  slightly  flexuous.  There  are  eighty-six  primary,  and  an  equal 
number  of  secondary  septa,  the  latter  being  minute  and  hardly  recog- 
nisable in  the  dense  vesicular  tissue  that  they  intersect,  and  each  is 
united  by  irregular  lenticular  interseptal  dissepiments.  The  central 
area  is  circular,  and  five  lines  in  diameter,  and  in  a  transverse  section 
exhibits  the  cut  ends  of  the  vertical  lamellae,  which  pass  inwards  to 
near  the  centre,  at  which  they  fall  short,  and  are  attached  to  the* 
outer  margin  of  the  depression  that  occupies  the  centre  of  the  calice, 
and  are  seen  in  the  longitudinal  section  to  be  intersected  by  the  cut 
edges  of  the  tabulae.  The  longitudinal  section  is  triareal;  in  the 
central  area  there  are  thin  discontinuous  columellarian  lines,  and 
each  is  united  by  concave  tabulae.  The  intermediate  (*' interlobular") 
area  is  closed  in  by  convex  tabulae.  The  outer  ("interseptal") 
area  is  broad,  and  occupied  by  lenticular  irregular  convex  cells, 
convexity  upwards  and  inwards,  and  arranged  in  oblique  rows. 
The  fossula  is  large,  and  there  are  three  of  the  primary  septa,  which 
fall  short  of  the  others,  and  pass  into  it;  and  in  the  centre  there  is  an 
unequal  bipartite  plate  in  it,  which  forms  the  floor  of  the  fossula, 
and  a  portion  of  the  structure  of  the  central  area  passes  into  it. 
There  is  a  double  or  false  fossula,  and  three  of  the  primary  septa 
fall  shorter  than  the  others  in  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  unknown,  it  being  imperfect.  Specimen, 
5  inches  in  length.  Diameter  of  section,  2  inches  at  the 
broadest. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  a  bed  of  shale  that  overlies 
the  lowest  bed  of  Scottish  carboniferous  limestone  in  Langside 
Quarry,  Beith,  Ayrshire. 

The  structure  of  this  grand  specimen  is  unique,  and  I  humbly 
beg  to  dedicate  the  type  in  honour  of  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty 
Queen  Victoria. 

Albertia  Argylli.     Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  I.,  Fig.  2. 

Specific  Characters. —  Corallum  imperfect;  epitheca  thin,  and 
marked  with  deep  irregular  annulations  of  growth;  calice  shallow 
and  flat,  in  the  centre  there  are  irregular  lamellar  ridges.  The  septa 
rise  at  an  acute  angle  to  the  termination  of  the  interlocular  area; 


17'J  Fhll'jvJi'hUtil  Society  of  GUugwr. 

there  they  become  much  everted,  and  descend  down  to  the  periphery. 
There  are  seventy-four  primary  septa,  which  are  strong  and  lamellar 
for  about  two-thirds  of  their  inner  ends;  in  the  outer  area  they 
become  delicate  and  flexuous.  These  alternate  with  an  equal 
number  of  minute  indistinct  secondary  septa,  and  the  individuality 
of  each  is  so  much  interfered  with  bv  the  dense  vesicular  tissue 
that  their  continuity  is  almost  lost  The  interseptal  dissepiments 
are  dense  in  the  median  zone,  and  become  more  or  less  lenticular 
and  less  dense  as  they  approach  the  periphery.  Two  of  the  primary 
septa  fall  shorter  than  the  others  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
coral lum  from  the  fossula,  and  the  space  (or  "  interlocular  area")  is 
occupied  with  minute  ovular  bodies.*  The  central  area  is  seven 
linos  in  diameter.  The  transverse  section  exhibits  the  cut 
ends  of  the  vertical  lamellae,  and  the  central  depression  is  broad. 
The  fossula  is  deep  and  well  defined,  and  one  of  the  primary 
septa  extends  about  three-fourths  of  the  length  of  the  others 
into  it. 

Height  of  coral  lum,  at  present  unknown,  the  specimen  being  im- 
perfect.    Diameter  of  transverse  section,  fully  2  inches. 

Forrnution  ami  Locality.  — Found  in  a  bed  of  shale  that  overlies 
the  lowest  bed  of  carboniferous  limestone  in  Langside  Quarry, 
Be itl j,  Ayrshire. 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  dedicating  this  elegant  species  to  his 
<;r:ico  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S.,  Ac. 


Albcrtia  Lindstrbmi.     Tliomson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  L,  Fig.  3. 

Specific  CJuiracters — Corallum  cylindro-conical  and  curved;  epi- 
1  heca  thin.  The  exterior  margin  of  the  septa  is  visible  from  without 
through  the  thin  cpithecal  covering,  and  there  are  shallow  annulations 
of  growth.     Calico  circular,  shallow,  and  everted.     The  central 


*  1  referred  to  the  presence  of  similar  bodies  in  my  paper  on  the  genus  Aapidio- 
phyllum,  in  the  Proceedings  of  Uie  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow,  VoL  IX., 
p.  lift.  I  have  since  discovered  similar  ovular  bodies  in  five  or  six  specimens. 
In  all,  the  septa  fall  short  of  the  others,  and  the  ovular  bodies  are  always  found 
in  the  interlocular  area.  In  the  paper  above-mentioned  I  suggested  that 
these  bodies  resemble  fossil  ova,  on  opinion  that  has  been  considered  probable 
l>y  several  of  our  eminent  physiologists,  both  in  this  and  in  other  countries. 
The  structure  is  suggestive,  and  worthy  of  careful  observation. 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  New  Genus  of  llugose  Corals.      171 

projects^  nearly  half  an  inch,*  and  the  depression  in  the  centre  is 
small  and  diamond-shaped.  The  septa  are  lamellar  for  half  their 
length  from  the  inner  margin.  In  the  outer  zone  they  are  delicate 
and  flexuous.  There  are  sixty-two  primary,  alternating  with  an 
equal  number  of  minute  secondary  septa.  Each  is  laterally  united 
by  angular  interseptal  dissepiments.  Central  area  circular,  and 
eight  lines  broad.  A  transverse  section  exposes  the  cut  edges  of 
twelve  lamellae.  The  fossula  is  small,  and  contains  a  single  short 
primary  septum  in  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  imperfect,  a  portion  of  the  inferior  extremity 
being  wanting ;  length  of  specimen,  2  J  inches  ;  diameter  of  calice, 
2  inches. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  a  band  of  shale  that  overlies 
the  lowest  bed  of  carboniferous  limestone  in  Langside  Quarry, 
Beith,  Ayrshire. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  the  preceding  by  the  smaller 
central  area,  the  smaller  number  of  the  vertical  lamellae,  and  the 
number  of  septa  is  less  proportionally,  and  the  vesicular  tissue  is 
less  dense.  I  have  much  pleasure  in  dedicating  this  species  to 
Professor  G.  Lindstrom,  the  distinguished  Swedish  palaeontologist. 


Albertia  vesiculatus.     Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  L,  Fig.  4. 

Specific  Characters.  —  Corallum  imperfect;  epitheca  thin,  and 
marked  with  annulations  of  growth ;  calice  circular,  shallow,  and 
much  everted ;  the  septa  are  stout,  and  in  transverse  section  are 
lamellar  for  a  third  of  their  length  from  the  inner  margin,  when  they 
then  become  more  or  less  vesicular.  There  are  sixty  primary  and 
an  equal  number  of  minute  secondary  septa,  and  each  is  laterally 
united  by  numerous  angular  interseptal  dissepiments.  The  central 
area  is  sub-elliptical,  and  is  ten  lines  at  the  broadest  and  qight  lines 
at  the  narrowest,  and  exhibits  the  cut  edges  of  the  lamellae,  and  the 
depression  in  the  centre  extends  down  into  the  fossula.  The  fossula 
is  small,  and  one  of  the  primary  septa,  half  the  length  of  the  others, 
extends  into  it ;  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  corallum  there  is 

*  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  this  species  the  central  area  projects  nearly  half 
an  inch  above  the  floor  of  the  calice,  an  abnormal  condition  which  I  have  not 
fonod  in  any  other  species  belonging  to  this  genus.  In  another  group  I  have 
found  the  central  area  projecting  frequently,  but  only  in  specimens  from  one 
locality. 


172  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

a  false  *  fossula,  which  contains  a  single  septum  shorter  than  the 
others. 

Height  of  coraHum,  (imperfect),  specimen  1  inch  long ;  diameter 
of  section,  1  inch  9  lines. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  at  Peter's  Hill,  Bathgate,  and  at 
Langside,  Beith,  Ayrshire,  in  a  band  of  shale  that  overlies  the 
lowest  bed  of  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  the  preceding  by  the  vesicular 
structure  of  the  septa,  which  in  the  exterior,  or  face  of  the  calice,  are 
mammillated  and  stout. 


Albertia  irregularus.     T/wmson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  IIL,  Fig.  1. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  incomplete,  the  portion  that 
we  possess  indicates  that  it  was  cylindro-conical  and  curved ;  epitheca 
thin,  with  fine  encircling  strife,  and  irregular  accretions  of  growth  ; 
calice  circular,  shallow,  with  irregular  lamellar  ridges,  which  con- 
verge inwards  for  a  short  distance,  leaving  a  broad  central  depres- 
sion, in  the  centre  of  which  there  is  a  small,  slightly  raised  ovular 
prominence.  The  primary  septa  are  lamellar  for  two-thirds  of 
their  length  from  their  inner  margins.  Tn  the  outer  third  they 
become  delicate  and  flexuous;  in  the  inner  (interlocular  space)  they 
are  united  by  remote  delicate  transverse  dissepiments,  and  in  the 
outer  area  the  dissepiments  are  numerous  and  angular.  There  are 
seventy  primary,  alternating  with  an  equal  number  of  secondary 
septa,  which  are  almost  lost  in  the  dense  exterior  zone  of  vesicular 
tissue.  Fossula  small,  and  contains  a  single  primary  septum  of 
shorter  length  than  the  others. 

Height  of  corallum  (imperfect),  2  inches;  diameter  of  calice,  1  inch 
11  lines. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  a  bed  of  shale  that  overlies 
the  lowest  bed  of  carboniferous  limestone,  Langside  Quarry,  Beith, 
Ayrshire. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  the  preceding  by  the  greater 
number  of  lamellae,  their  irregular  arrangement,  and  their  shorter 
length,  necessarily  leaving  a  broader  depression  in  the  centre  of 
the  calicular  cavity. 

"  In  the  absence  of  accurate  knowledge  as  to  the  true  character  of  the  fossula, 
I  call  this  double  fossula  "false"  provisionally. 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  Neiv  Genus  of  Bugose  Corals.     173 

Albertia  depressa.     Thomson,     Sp.  nov. 
Plate  III.,  Fig.  2. 

Specific  Characters,  —  Corallum  simple,  cylindro-conical,  and 
curved ;  epitheca  thin.  The  exterior  margin  of  the  septa  is  visible 
from  without  through  the  thin  epithecal  covering,  and  there  are 
encircling  lines  and  broad  shallow  annulations  of  growth ;  the  calice 
is  moderately  deep  and  everted,  and  the  central  depression  is  broad 
and  deep,  and  there  is  a  deep,  hollow  opening  into  the  fossula. 
There  are  sixty-six  primary  septa,  alternating  with  an  equal 
number  of  minute  secondary  septa,  which  are  united  in  the  outer 
zone  by  sparse  and  angular  interseptal  dissepiments.  In  the  inter- 
mediate zone  the  dissepiments  are  angular  and  numerous,  while  at 
the  inner  margins  ("interlocular  area")  they  are  scarce  and  rect- 
angular. The  central  area  is  seven  lines  broad,  and  the  lamellae  are 
short,  and  the  central  depression  is  broad  and  occupied  by  the 
cut  edges  of  the  concave  tabulae,  a  portion  of  which  converges  into 
the  septal  fossula.  The  fossula  is  small,  and  contains  a  single 
primary  septum,  half  the  length  of  the  others,  in  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  4£  inches ;  diameter  of  calice,  1  inch  7  lines. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  a  band  of  shale  that  overlies 
the  lowest  post  of  carboniferous  limestone  in  Langside  Quarry, 
Beith,  Ayrshire. 

This  is  distinguished  from  all  the  other  species  of  the  genus  in 
the  form  of  the  central  area.  The  depression  in  the  centre  is  much 
deeper,  and  opens  into  the  fossula;  and  the  lamellae  are  short,  and 
proportionately  are  fewer  in  number,  and  the  interseptal  dissepi- 
ments are  scarce  in  the  outer  zone,  and  exhibit  less  cellular  tissue. 

Albertia  intermedium.     Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 
Plate  III.,  Fig.  3  and  3a. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  cylindro-conical,  tall,  and 
curved;  the  epitheca  is  thin,  and  there  are  delicate  encircling  lines,  and 
broad  irregular  annulations  of  growth ;  calice  awanting;  transverse  sec- 
tion circular.  The  primary  septa  are  lamellar  for  nearly  two-thirds 
of  their  length  from  the  inner  margin,  and  in  the  outer  area  they  are 
thin,  and  more  or  less  flexuous.  There  are  seventy-two  primary 
septa,  alternating  with  an  equal  number  of  secondary  septa;  the 
latter  pass  inwards  from  the  periphery  for  a  line  and  a  half,  and 


174  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

are  attached  to  the  primary  septa  at  their  inner  ends.  In  the  outer 
zone  the  interseptal  spaces  are  occupied  by  scarce  and  moderately 
angular  dissepiments,  while  in  the  intermediate  area  they  become 
numerous,  and  in  the  inner  ("  interlobular ")  area  they  are  few  in 
number  and  rectangular.  The  central  area  is  seven  lines  broad, 
and  exhibits  the  cut  edges  of  nine  vertical  lamellae,  which  never 
reach  the  centre,  and  occupy  two-thirds  of  the  central  area.  The 
septal  fossula  is  narrow,  and  a  single  primary  septum,  three-fourth  a 
of  the  length  of  the  others,  passes  into  it. 

The  longitudinal  section  is  triareal,  and  the  vertical  lamellae  are 
seen  to  stop  short  of  the  centre  of  the  corallum.  The  centre  is 
occupied  with  slightly  concave  tabulae.  In  the  intermediate  ("inter- 
locular  ")  area  there  are  convex  tabulae,  the  convexity  being  upwards 
and  outwards.  The  outer  ("interseptal")  area  is  broad,  and  ex- 
hibits numerous  irregular  lenticular  convex  cellular  tissue,  the  con- 
yexity  being  upwards  and  inwards,  and  arranged  in  oblique  rows. 

Height  of  corallum,  4  J  inches ;  diameter  of  transverse  section,  1 
inch  and  10  lines. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  a  bed  of  shale  that  overlies 
the  lowest  post  of  carboniferous  limestone  in  Langside  Quarry, 
Beith,  Ayrshire. 

This  species  is  closely  allied  to  Albertia  depressa.  It,  however, 
differs  in  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the  lamellae  in  the  central 
area,  and  in  the  proportionately  greater  number  of  septa.  This  species 
I  have  selected  to  show  the  transitionary  tendency  of  this  group  to  pass 
into  Cymatiophyttvm,  from  which  it  is  distinguished  in  the  structure 
of  the  central  area.  Its  structural  character,  however,  clearly  links 
it  with  the  genus  Albertia. 

Albertia  Oweni.     Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 
Plate  ni.,  Fig.  4. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  cylindro-conical,  and  moderately 
tall ;  epitheca  thin,  with  encircling  striae  and  irregular  annulations  of 
growth ;  the  calice  is  shallow,  and  the  lamellar  ridges  rise  slightly 
near  the  outer  margin,  and  then  descend  into  the  centre  of  the 
central  area.  Near  the  inner  margin  the  primary  septa  bend 
sharply  downwards  into  the  central  area,  and  become  everted 
towards  the  periphery.  There  are  sixty-eight  primary  septa;  they 
are  lamellar  for  half  their  length  from  the  inner  margin;  in  the 
outer  half  they  become  delicate  and  flexuous.    There  is  an  equal 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals.      175 

number  of  minute  secondary  septa,  which  are  hardly  recognisable, 
and  each  is  united  by  angular  interseptal  dissepiments.  The  central 
area  is  eight-and-a-half  lines  in  diameter,  exhibiting  the  cut  edges  of 
the  lamellae,  which  pass  into  the  central  depression.  The  fossula  is 
small,  and  one  of  the  primary  septa,  two-thirds  of  the  length  of 
the  others,  passes  into  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  3|  inches.  There  is  a  small  portion  of  the 
inferior  extremity  deficient,  otherwise  it  would  have  been  fully 
4  inches  long.  Diameter  of  section,  imperfect,  a  considerable  portion 
on  the  concave  side  of  the  corallum  being  eroded;  if,  however,  we  add 
a  proportionate  space  for  the  part  wanting,  the  diameter  would  be 
2  inches  3  lines. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  a  band  of  shale  which  overlies 
the  lowest  bed  of  carboniferous  limestone  in  Langside  Quarry, 
Beith,  Ayrshire. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  the  preceding  by  the  larger 
dimensions  of  the  central  area.  The  septa  are  stouter  and  less. 
numerous,  and  the  vesicular  tissue  is  less  dense.  I  have  much 
pleasure  in  naming  this  species  in  honour  of  Professor  Owen,  F.R.S. 

Albertia  subconicum.     Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  III.,  Fig.  5. 

Specific  Characters, — Corallum  conico-cylindrical,  tall,  curved ;  epi- 
theca  thin,  with  encircling  lines  and  shallow,  irregular  ammlations 
of  growth ;  the  calice  is  shallow ;  the  septa  are  prominent  at  the 
interlocular  area;  they  descend  sharply  downwards  into  the  central 
area,  and  are  more  or  less  everted  towards  the  periphery.  The  lamellae 
in  the  central  area  are  convex,  descending  to  the  inner  margin  of 
the  primary  septa  in  the  outer  margin,  and  in  the  inner,  into  the 
depression  in  the  centre  of  the  corallum.  In  the  centre  of  the 
central  area  there  is  a  small  obovate  protuberance,  which  in  trans- 
verse section  is  seen  to  be  formed  of  convex  plates,  the  convexity 
being  outwards.  There  are  sixty-four  primary  septa,  alternating  with 
an  equal  number  of  minute  secondary  septa,  and  each  is  united  by 
sparse  and  angular  interseptal  dissepiments.  The  septal  fossula  is 
conspicuous,  and  is  occupied  by  one  primary  septa,  a  third  of  the 
length  of  the  others,  and  a  portion  of  the  structure  of  the  central 
area  passes  into  it.  The  central  area  is  seven-and-a-half  lines  broad, 
and  in  transverse  section  exhibits  the  cut  ends  of  the  vertical  lamellae. 
There  are  seventeen  lamellae,  and  the  interlamellar  dissepiments  are 
sparse  and  rectangular. 


176  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Height  of  coral lum,  6|  inches;  diameter  of  calice,  1J  inch. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  a  band  of  shale  that  overlies 
the  lowest  post  of  carboniferous  limestone  at  Langside,  Beith, 
Ayrshire. 

This  species  differs  from  the  preceding  in  the  form  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  central  area.  The  lamellae  are  more  numerous,  and  in 
transverse  section  approximate  more  closely  the  genus  Aspidio- 
phyllum  than  do  any  of  the  other  species.  The  lamellae,  however, 
do  not  pass  into  the  centre  of  the  central  area,  as  in  Aspidiopht/Uum ; 
they  stop  short  of  the  centre,  and  bend  downwards  at  both  extremi- 
ties, and  assume  a  more  or  less  sub-conical  aspect,  and  in  the  central 
depression  there  is  a  small  protuberance. 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLATES. 

Plate  I. 

Fig.  1. — Albertia  Victoria  Regia,  natural  size.     Lower  carboniferous,  Langside, 

Beith,  Ayrshire. 
Fig.  1a. — A  longitudinal  section  of  the  same,  natural  size. 
Fig.  2. — Albertia  Aryylli,  natural  size.     Lower  carboniferous,  Langside,  Beith, 

Ayrshire. 
Fig.  3. — Albertia  Lindstrthni,  natural  size.     Lower   carboniferous,  Langside, 

Beith,  Ayrshire. 
Fig.  4. — Albertia   vesiculates,  natural  size.     Lower    carboniferous,    Langside, 

Beith,  Ayrshire. 

Plate  II. 

Fig.  1. — Albertia  Victoria  Regia,   Enlarged  about  six  times  to  show  the  delicate 
and  elegant  structure  of  this  unique  coraL 

Plate  III. 

Fig.  1. — Albertia  irregularus,   natural   size.    Lower  carboniferous,   Langside, 

Beith,  Ayrshire. 
Fig.  2. — Albertia  depressa,  natural  size.     Lower  carboniferous,  Langside,  Beith, 

Ayrshire. 
Fig.  3. — Albertia  intermedium,  natural  size.     Lower  carboniferous,  Langside, 

Beith,  Ayrshire. 
Fig.  3a. — A  longitudinal  section  of  the  same,  natural  size. 
Fig.  4. — Albertia  Otceni,  natural  size.    Lower  carboniferous,  Langside,  Beith, 

Ayrshire. 
Fig.  6.— Albertia  subconicum,   natural  size.     Lower  carboniferous,   Langside, 

Beith,  Ayrshire. 


riWinys  !fiit.  Svr.  ifGUnyfu:   Ilolr  I 


""*!■'<'*,■«,,    ,,„„ 


ti:-.. 


ftivrrdmijs  lint.  See  p/'O'lasymt:    Plat, 


Ommw* 


Mr.  Andrew  Wallace  on  Pauperism  and  tlic  Poor  Law.    177 


XVII. — Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Law.    By  Mr.  Andrew  Wallace, 

Inspector  of  Poor,  Govan  Combination. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  1st  May,  1878.] 

[Abstract.] 

The  subject  assigned  to  me  is  not  only  of  great  importance,  but 
also  of  great  difficulty,  requiring  much  care  and  delicacy  in  the 
handling.  Sydney  Smith,  in  one  of  his  critical  essays,  says,  "A 
pamphlet  on  the  Poor  Laws  generally  contains  some  little  piece 
of  favourito  nonsense,  by  which  we  are  gravely  told  this  enormous 
evil  may  be  perfectly  cured.  The  first  gentleman  recommends 
little  gardens ;  the  second,  cows ;  the  third,  a  village  shop ;  the 
fourth,  a  spade;  the  fifth,  Dr.  Bell,  and  so  forth."  There  is  still 
a  good  deal  of  this  nonsense  amongst  us,  and  it  would  be  well  that 
while  doing  our  utmost  to  ameliorate  pauperism,  wo  should  be  care- 
ful not  to  rush  to  hasty  conclusions,  or  fancy  we  have  discovered 
an  infallible  and  immediate  remedy  for  this  deep-rooted  disease. 

It  is  quito  a  common  thing  for  Poor  Law  reformers  to  condemn 
our  present  Poor  Laws  in  to  to,  and  to  blame  them  for  the  existence 
of  pauperism  and  the  demoralised  state  of  the  poor.  They  think 
that  the  former  days,  when  the  poor  were  under  the  care  of  the 
church,  were  better  than  these;  and  they  argue  that  pauperism  will 
never  be  removed  until  the  Poor  Laws  are  abolished  and  the  old 
principle  of  administration  restored.  But  this  is  a  mere  dream  of 
the  imagination.  "  'Tis  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view " 
in  regard  to  the  olden  days.  The  condition  of  the  poor  prior  to  the 
passing  of  the  Poor  Law  Act  of  1845  was  such  as  urgently  called 
for  reform.  The  country  was  literally  swarming  with  beggars  and 
vagrants,  who  plundered  more  than  they  received  in  alms ;  while 
the  deserving  poor  were  neglected  and  sent  to  the  wall.  They 
received  miserable  pittances  of  one,  two,  and  three  shillings  per 
calendar  month;  and  in  some  poor  parishes  not  more  than  from 
two  shillings  to  ten  shillings  per  annum.  The  Commission  ap- 
pointed in  1843,  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  poor,  stated 

Vol.  XL— No.  1.  k 


178  Phihsojjhkal  Society  of  Glasgow. 

that  "the  funds  raised  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  .  .  .  are  in  many 
parishes  of  Scotland  insufficient.  Throughout  the  Highland  dis- 
tricts, and  in  some  parts  of  the  Lowlands  also,  where  the  funds 
consist  solely  of  what  may  be  raised  by  the  church  collections,  the 
amount  is  often  inconsiderable.  In  many  places  the  quantum  of 
relief  given  is  not  measured  by  the  necessities  of  the  pauper,  but 
by  the  sum  which  the  kirk  session  may  happen  to  have  in  hand 
for  distribution."  Even  in  city  parishes,  where  a  more  systematic 
organisation  prevailed,  the  allowances  were  "miserably  deficient." 
It  was  out  of  that  report  that  the  Poor  Law  Amendment  Act  was 
framed,  and  on  the  whole  it  has  worked  remarkably  well 

The  charge  made  against  it,  that  it  has  increased  the  pauperism 
of  the  country,  has  not  been  verified.     We  are  told  on  good  autho- 
rity that  the  average  number  of  paupers,  excluding  dependants,  to 
the  population  during  the  ten  years  ending  1817  was  1  in  39*9 : 
the  average  of  the  three  years,  1835-6-7,  was  1  in  29,  although  it 
is  said  that  in  the  latter  period  a  certain  number  of  dependants 
were  included.     But  in  1847,  after  the  Poor  Law  Act  had  been 
some  time  in  operation,  the  average  was  1  in  35*7.     So  that  the 
immediate  effect  of  the  passing  of  the  Act  was  not  to  increase,  but 
somewhat  decrease  the  number  of  paupers.     But  the  real  test  of  the 
influence  of  the  Poor  Law  Act  does  not  stop  here.     Indeed  it  only 
begins  here.    For  if  it  were  true,  as  is  alleged,  that  the  tendency  of 
the  Act  has  been  to  pauperise  and  demoralise  the  people,  it  would 
follow  that  as  the  system  grew  in  years  it  would  grow  in  iniquity, 
and  its  evil  influence  would  be  increasing  from  year  to  year.     The 
very  opposite,  however,  has  been  the  case.     The  ratio  of  paupers 
to  the  population  has  very  materially  decreased  since   1847.     In 
May,  1855,  the  number  of  registered  poor  on  the  rolls  at  one  time 
was  79,887,  or  1  in  36  of  the  population  of  1851.     In  May,  1865, 
the  number  was  77,895,  or  1  in  39  of  the  population  of  1861.     In 
May,  1875,  the  number  was  65,661,  or  1  in  51  of  the  population  of 
1871 ;  while  in  May,  1877,  the  number  had  still  further  decreased  to 
62,058,  or  1   in  54  of  the  population   of  1871.     And  let  it   be 
remembered  that  it  has  chiefly  been  during  the  last  thirty  years 
that  the  large  immigration  of  Irish  people  has  taken  place;  and 
it  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the  Irish  element  in  Scotch  pauperism 
has  been  very  considerable. 

I  am  free  to  confess,  however,  that  when  we  come  to  look  at  the 
expenditure  side  of  the  question,  the  results  are  not  so  satisfactory. 
That  has  been  growing  steadily  year  by  year  from  1847,  at  least 
down  to  1869,  when  it  reached  its  maximum;  although  it  is  grati- 


Mr.  Andrew  Wallace  on  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Laic.    179 

Tying  to  know  that  since  1869  the  tide  has  taken  a  turn,  and  a 
gradual  and  very  appreciable  decrease  has  been  going  on.  It 
would  take  too  much  time  to  go  minutely  into  all  the  phases  of 
this  increased  expenditure ;  but  one  or  two  of  the  more  prominent 
it  will  be  necessary  to  notice,  and  first,  as  to  the  extent  of  the 
increase.  In  1847  the  total  expenditure  on  the  relief  and  manage- 
ment of  the  poor  was  £433,915,  while  in  1869  it  reached  as  high  as 
£931,275,  or  more  than  double ;  and  in  1877  it  amounted  to  £858,907, 
being  an  increase  over  1847  of  98  per  cent.,  while  the  number  of 
paupers  had  decreased  from  74,161  to  62,058.  You  will  say  it  would 
take  a  good  deal  of  explanation  to  justify  this  enormous  increase ! 
Well,  after  all,  it  is  not  without  some  reasonable  justification.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  cost  of  living  has 
materially  increased  during  the  last  thirty  years.  It  takes  more  to 
keep  even  a  pauper  now  than  it  did  then.  Food,  fuel,  house  rents 
and  other  necessaries  have  all  increased  from  30  to  50  per  cent.  A 
more  liberal  spirit  now  prevails  moreover  towards  the  poor,  and 
even  Parochial  Board  members  are  not  so  stern  as  they  used  to  be. 
But  there  are  sources  of  increase  independently  of  these.  In  1847 
it  is  estimated  that  only  £57,740  was  expended  on  pauper  lunatics, 
whereas  in  1877  the  expenditure  on  pauper  lunatics  had  increased 
to  £173,311 — that  is,  the  cost  of  pauper  lunatics  has  been  trebled 
since  1847,  and  now  forms  a  fifth  of  the  whole  Poor  Law  expenditure. 
Again,  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  paupers,  which,  as  we  have* 
seen,  has  been  very  considerable,  has  only  been  accomplished  by  a 
more  careful  supervision  and  by  a  stricter  application  of  the  poor- 
house  test,  and  these  have  not  been  put  into  operation  without 
increased  expenditure  on  poorhouse  buildings  and  management. 
In  1847  there  were  only  14  poorhouses  in  Scotland,  while  in  1877 
the  number  had  increased  to  62.  In  the  former  year  there  was  no 
expenditure  on  new  buildings;  but  in  1869  there  was  expended  on 
these  buildings  not  less  than  £110,091,  and  in  1877  £52,598.  And 
besides  the  cost  of  the  buildings,  the  cost  of  indoor  maintenance 
is  more  than  double  the  outdoor  allowances.  To  add  a  still 
further  redeeming  feature  to  this  apparently  ugly  aspect  of  our 
modern  pauperism,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  increase  in  the 
expenditure  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  increase  of  the  national 
wealth  and  prosperity.  In  1847  the  average  poor  rate  was  10  Jd. 
per  £  on  the  valuation,  while  in  1869  it  had  only  increased  to 
11£<L,  and  in  1877  it  was  as  low  as  9d.  per  £. 

I  have  entered  into  these  statistics  not  only  in  justice  to  the 
present  Poor  Law  and  its  administration,  but  in  order  to  enable 


180  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

the  Society  to  start  upon  a  true  basis  in  any  inquiries  or  proposals 
in  the  direction  of  reform.  If  we  proceed  upon  the  rash  and  un- 
founded assumption  that  the  influence  of  the  Poor  Law  Act  of 
1845  has  only  been  to  increase  the  pauperism  and  demoralisation 
of  the  people,  we  may  be  led  to  propose  some  sudden  and  harsh 
measures  of  reform,  which  would,  if  carried  out,  prove  disastrous 
to  the  interests  of  the  deserving  poor.  Whereas  if  we  recognise 
the  fact  that  under  the  operation  of  the  law,  the  number  of  paupers 
has  materially  decreased,  while  the  expenditure  has  largely  in- 
creased from  one  point  of  view,  but  somewhat  decreased  from 
another,  then  we  will  be  in  a  better  position  to  devise  means  for 
the  still  further  reduction  of  the  number  as  far  as  that  is  wise  and 
desirable,  and  to  reduce  the  expenditure  as  far  as  practicable. 

The  question  that  meets  us  here  is,  Would  it  be  desirable  to 
diminish  largely  the  number  of  our  paupers  and  to  curtail  greatly 
the  cost  of  their  relief?  Absurd  as  this  question  may  seem  at  first 
sight,  there  can  be  no  doubt  it  requires  a  discriminative  reply.  If 
it  is  meant,  Would  it  be  desirable  to  reduce  the  number  of  persons 
who  require  parochial  relief?  of  course,  there  can  only  be  one 
answer, — an  emphatic  Yes.  But  if  it  is  meant  that  with  society 
in  its  present  condition,  and  the  habits  of  the  lower  classes  as  they 
now  are,  we  must  make  a  great  diminution  of  pauperism,  then  I 
imagine  a  little  more  caution  must  be  exercised  before  we  rush  to 
a  conclusion.  Which  of  these  aspects  of  the  subject  does  the 
Society  wish  to  consider  at  present?  There  can  be  no  doubt 
as  to  which  is  the  most  important.  To  remove  the  causes  of 
pauperism  by  an  improvement  of  the  social,  sanitary,  educational, 
moral  and  religious  condition  of  the  people  is  one  of  the  loftiest 
themes  that  can  engage  the  attention  of  any  man  or  any  society; 
and  this  may  receive  attention  in  the  subsequent  discussion.  But 
I  take  it  that  you  expect  me  to  treat  the  subject  with  special 
reference  to  the  method  of  Poor  Law  administration. 

And,  first,  let  us  consider  how  for  it  is  possible  to  reduce  wisely 
the  number  of  paupers  by  a  more  strict  administration  of  the  Poor 
Law.  There  are  two  methods  by  which  we  may  form  an  estimate 
of  the  extent  to  which  pauperism  may  thus  be  reduced,  viz. :  By 
considering  the  materials  of  which  our  paupers  are  composed,  and 
by  contrasting  our  pauperism  with  that  of  other  countries.  Re- 
garding the  former  of  these  aspects,  we  find  that  the  ranks  of 
pauperism  are  made  up  from  the  following  classes :— (1.)  Widows, 
with  or  without  dependants ;  (2.)  Men,  disabled  for  work  from  sick- 
ness or  infirmity;  (3.)  Deserted  wives,  with  dependants;  (4.)  Or- 


Mr.  Andrew  Wallace  on  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Law.    181 

phan  and  deserted  children  ;  (5.)  Single  women,  with  illegitimate 
children;  (6.)  Lunatics. 

These  six  classes  embrace  nearly  the  whole  of  the  persons  entitled 
to  relief.  For  in  Scotland  no  able-bodied  man  is  entitled  to  relief, 
however  great  his  destitution  may  be ;  and  here  a  curious  apparent 
difficulty  meets  us.  If  these  persons  are  legally  entitled  to  relief, 
how  can  we,  by  a  legal  administration  of  the  law,  reduce  the  num- 
ber? The  answer  to  this  question  will  be  found  in  an  analysis  of 
the  various  classes  of  applicants,  and  by  an  inquiry  into  the  avail- 
able methods  of  granting  relief.  The  widows  form  by  far  the  largest 
proportion  of  our  paupers.  Taking  Govan  Parish  as  a  fair  criterion 
of  the  other  parishes,  the  proportion  of  widows  to  the  whole  is 
from  45  to  50  per  cent.  The  exact  figures  in  Govan  are— number 
of  paupers  on  out-door  roll,  1,711,  of  whom  850  are  widows;  num- 
ber of  paupers  in  poorhouse,  523,  of  whom  117  are  widows.  It  will 
be  said  the  widows  are  a  deserving  class,  and  should  receive  kindly 
treatment;  but  there  are  various  kinds  of  widows.  Some  have 
grown-up  families  who  ought  to  support  them,  but  who  are  often 
unwilling.  There  are  also  aged,  lonely  widows,  who  live  in  hovels 
on  a  morsel  of  bread  and  a  cup  of  tea;  and  there  are  younger 
widows,  whose  husbands  have  been  cut  off  in  their  prime,  and  who 
are  left  with  young  dependent  children.  This  last  class,  when  well- 
behaved,  are  most  deserving,  and  should  be  well  treated  both  for 
their  own  and  their  children's  sake.  But  the  other  two  classes 
should  be  more  cautiously  dealt  with.  The  first  should  be  well 
tested,  so  as  to  throw  them,  upon  the  care  of  their  sons  and 
daughters;  and  the  second  should  be  tested,  as  many  of  them  are 
assisted  by  churches  and  friends,  and  may  often  be  able  to  do  light 
work,  and  thus  support  themselves.  Besides,  it  is  not  always  a 
charity  to  give  money  relief  to  those  who  are  half-Btarved  in  their 
own  homes, — better  to  provide  for  them  in  the  poorhouse.  Of  the 
disabled  men  with  wives  and  families,  of  whom  there  are  always  a 
considerable  number,  especially  in  winter,  it  is  frequently  desirable 
that  liberal  consideration  should  be  given,  for  by  this  means  they 
may  all  the  sooner  be  restored  to  health,  and  rendered  self-support- 
ing. But  where  the  parties  have  fallen  into  poverty  through  mis- 
conduct, or  have  friends  able  to  support  them,  or  where  they  might 
have  been  members  of  sick  societies,  it  would  not  be  wise  to  grant 
money  relief  readily.  Nothing  ought  to  be  done  to  encourage  im- 
providence. Deserted  wives  should  be  thoroughly  tested,  for  often 
there  is  collusion  between  the  spouses,  and  often  too  the  wife  is  as 
much  to  blame  as  the  husband  for  the  desertion.     The  orphans  and 


182  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

deserted  children  form  a  considerable  element  in  our  pauperism. 
The  average  number  chargeable  in  Scotland  is  about  6,064,  of 
whom  4,046  are  orphans,  and  2,018  deserted.  The  cost  of  their 
maintenance  will  be  about  £60,000  per  annum.  These  should 
be  tenderly  dealt  with.  Women  with  illegitimate  children  should 
not  be  taken  upon  the  pauper  roll  if  it  can  be  avoided.  As  they 
have  transgressed  the  moral  law,  it  would  be  a  pity  to  relieve  them 
of  the  temporal  consequences,  and  throw  the  burden  upon  others, 
— although  even  here  no  rigid,  merciless  law  should  be  laid  down. 
It  is  believed  that  there  are  nearly  600  women  chargeable  as  paupers, 
with  about  1,000  illegitimate  children,  and  it  is  certain  that  by  more 
strict  administration  this  number  might  be  reduced.  The  remain- 
ing class,  the  lunatics,  must  of  course  be  well  cared  for — although 
it  is  galling  to  think  that  about  40  per  cent,  of  this  numerous  and 
expensive  class  are  rendered  insane  through  drink.  There  is  room 
for  preventative  measures  here, — and  room,  too,  for  economy  in  the 
mode  of  treatment.  Our  asylums  are  too  costlv,  and  too  much  is 
spent  on  mere  decoration  and  adornment.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  there  is  scope  for  the  curtailment  of  pauperism  by  strict  and 
careful  administration. 

The  pauperism  of  Scotland,  as  compared  with  other  countries, 
does  not  appear  to  be  excessive.  The  ratio  of  registered  poor  in 
Scotland  is  3  per  cent.;  in  England,  3-5  per  cent.  The  rate  per  £ 
on  the  valuation  is  9  id.  in  Scotland,  and  Is.  5{d.  in  England.  As 
compared  with  Ireland,  it  would  appear  at  first  sight  that  our  pau- 
perism is  very  high.  During  1874-75  there  were  only  77,000 
paupers  chargeable  in  Ireland  to  a  population  of  5,500,000,  while 
the  expenditure  on  parochial  and  medical  relief  was  £1,001,989; 
the  figures  in  Scotland  being  105,000  paupers,  and  £71)4,916  of 
expenditure,  to  a  population  of  only  3,500,000.  But  on  a  close 
examination,  we  find  that  pauperism  is  a  heavier  burden  in  Ireland 
than  in  Scotland ;  for  while  the  average  poor-rate  in  the  latter  is 
9 £d.  per  £  on  the  valuation,  in  the  former  it  is  Is.  6d.  per  £,  or 
nearly  double,  the  country  being  so  much  poorer.  It  must  be  also 
borne  in  mind  that  Ireland  has  been  relieved  by  Scotland  of  a  great 
number  of  its  pauper  population.  In  the  year  1874,  there  were 
no  fewer  than  14,197  Irish-born  paupers  in  Scotland,  or  nearly  a 
seventh  of  the  whole,  of  whom  487  were  lunatics;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  number  of  Scotch  paupers  in  Ireland  was  almost 
nil.  And  still  further,  pauperism  in  Ireland  is  largely  on  the 
increase,  while  in  Scotland  it  is  considerably  on  the  decrease. 
It  is  not  very  easy  to  arrive  at  an  exact  comparison  between  the 


Mr.  Andrew  Wallace  oh  Pauperism  and  tlie  Poor  Law.    183 

pauperism  of  Scotland  and  that  of  Continental  countries,  partly 
from  the  want  of  exact  statistics,  and  partly  because  the  modes  of 
administration  are  different;  but  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying 
that  the  numbers  in  the  latter  will,  as  a  rule,  be  a  little  higher,  and 
the  expenditure  considerably  lower  than  in  the  former.  For  ex- 
ample, in  France,  with  a  population  in  1861  of  37,382,225,  there 
were  1,200,000  in  receipt  of  relief  from  the  public  funds,  or  at  the 
rate  of  3*45  per  cent.,  but  the  annual  allowances  only  averaged 
14  fr.  16  c.,  or  about  12s.  per  head.  In  the  city  of  Berlin,  with  a 
population  of  under  a  million,  there  were  in  1868  no  fewer  than 
56,771  in  receipt  of  relief,  being  fully  a  half  more  than  in  Scot- 
land proportionately,  although  it  must  be  stated  that  a  large 
proportion  of  these  received  medical  relief  only.  But  the  average 
rate  of  aliment  was  only  about  a  half  of  what  is  allowed  in  Scot- 
land. Again,  in  the  town  of  Elberfeld,  in  Germany,  with  a  popu- 
lation in  1867  of  64,732,  the  rate  of  paupers  was  3 \  per  cent.,  as 
compared  with  3  per  cent,  in  Scotland ;  and  the  rate  of  aliment 
was  £2,  14s.  5|d.,  while  in  Scotland  the  rate  is  at  least  double  that 
sum :  and  in  Sweden,  the  number  of  persons  in  receipt  of  parochial 
relief  (out-door)  in  1865  was  in  the  ratio  of  3*6  per  cent,  of  the 
population  (besides  in-door  poor),  while  the  expenditure  was  only 
at  the  rate  of  about  30s.  per  head  per  annum. 

We  now  come  to  consider  what  measures  may  be  adopted  for  the 
reduction  of  pauperism,  regarding  that  question  within  the  limited 
area  of  Poor  Law  administration ;  and  the  first  and  principal  mea- 
sure which  experience  has  shown  to  be  available  is  the  application 
of  the  poorhouse  test.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  has  proved 
a  most  efficacious  instrument  of  restriction  in  time  past,  and  that  it 
is  capable  of  being  rendered  still  more  efficacious.  In  Ireland,  for 
example,  in  the  year  1857,  there  were  only  51,761  paupers  charge- 
able at  one  time  to  a  population  of  above  6,000,000,  or  1  in  115 ; 
while  in  the  same  year  there  were  in  Scotland  88,622  paupers  to  a 
population  of  about  3,000,000,  or  1  in  34.  But  mark  the  difference 
in  the  modes  of  treatment.  In  Ireland  there  were  only  1,096  in 
receipt  of  out-door,  and  50,665  of  in-door  relief;  while  in  Scotland 
about  80,000  were  on  the  out-door,  and  only  between  8,000  and 
9,000  on  the  in-door  rolls.  We  are  not  here  approving  of  the  Irish 
system  of  relief,  but  simply  showing  the  effect  of  the  two  systems. 
As  we  have  already  said,  Irish  pauperism  is  on  the  increase.  This 
arises  from  a  relaxation  of  the  poorhouse  test,  as  the  following 
figures  will  show.  In  1874  the  out-door  paupers  had  increased 
from  1,096  to  30,928,  while  the  in-door  paupers  had  decreased  only 


184  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

from  50,665  to  47,113,  clearly  showing  how  eager  the  rush  for 
out-door  relief  is  when  the  administration  is  relaxed. 

In  England  the  testing  movement  has  been  of  more  recent 
origin,  but  the  results  have  been  equally  decisive.  Indeed,  in  some 
unions  the  results  have  been  marvellous.  Six  years  ago  the  union 
of  Whitechapel,  London,  had  no  fewer  than  2,500  out-door  paupers, 
while  last  year  the  number  had  actually  decreased  to  150,  while 
the  increase  in  the  in-door  poor  was  comparatively  trifling.  In  the 
Stepney  Union  there  were  in  1871  about  4,000  on  the  out-door 
roll,  while  in  1877  there  were  only  160.  And  in  St.  Georges-in- 
the-East  the  number  was  reduced  from  1,500  to  150,  and  these 
startling  results  were  brought  about  by  a  strict  application  of  the 
poorhouse  test.  No  wonder  that  some  enthusiastic  reformers 
should  have  jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  the  cure  for  pauperism 
had  at  last  been  discovered.  But  here,  again,  we  are  not  holding 
up  this  experience  as  a  model  from  which  to  copy,  but  only  to 
show  what  the  poorhouse  test  can  do  when  put  strictly  in  force. 
In  1871  the  pauperism  of  these  London  parishes  was  extravagantly 
and  scandalously  high,  being  about  three  or  four  times  greater 
than  in  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh.  But  now  it  is  almost  as  much 
below  the  average  in  these  latter  places,  and  it  is  quite  evident 
that  there  is  room  for  us  to  improve  now  in  our  turn,  although 
perhaps  not  to  the  same  extent.  We  in  Scotland  are  more  cautious 
than  our  impulsive  neighbours  in  the  south,  and  having  never  gone 
so  far  in  the  path  of  extravagance  as  they,  we  are  not  likely  to 
proceed  so  far  in  the  path  of  coercion  and  repression. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  to  adopt  anything  like  a  universal  system 
of  in-door  relief,  without  first  making  some  provision  for  the  support 
of  our  deserving  poor  who  will  not  accept  such  relief,  would  be 
harsh  and  unjust;  for  there  are  many  really  worthy  and  deserving 
people  who  cannot  provide  for  themselves,  and  who  would  be 
degraded  by  being  sent  to  the  confinement  of  the  poorhouse, 
where  they  would  be  forced  to  mix  with  the  worthless  and  the 
dissolute.  Indeed,  a  reform  would  require  to  be  made  in  the  poor- 
house arrangements  before  the  system  of  in-door  relief  could  be 
very  largely  extended  to  persons  who  ought,  properly  speaking, 
to  be  sent  there.  There  should  be  a  better  classification  amongst 
the  inmates.  The  deserving  but  utterly  destitute  poor  should  be 
separately  and  more  leniently  dealt  with,  and  the  undeserving 
should  be  more  strictly  dealt  with,  and  the  labour  test  more 
severely  applied.  To  many  the  poorhouse  is  little  better  than 
purgatory;  to  many  more  it  is  a  place  where  food  and  lodging; 


Mr. ^Andrew  Wallace  on  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Law.    185 

may  be  obtained  without  work,  or  an  hospital  for  recuperation 
from  vile  diseases  and  distempers.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that 
the  Board  of  Supervision  is  labouring  with  commendable  zeal  in 
the  direction  now  stated ;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
if  its  efforts  are  seconded  by  the  action  of  the  various  Parochial 
Boards  throughout  the  country,  the  proportions  of  pauperism  will 
be  greatly  curtailed,  and  a  better  treatment  of  the  poor  be  effected. 

Another  method  by  which  the  growth  of  pauperism  may  be 
checked  is  by  a  stricter  surveillance  and  a  more  frequent  visitation, 
of  the  homes  of  the  paupers.  We  must  watch  their  career  after 
they  are  placed  upon  the  roll,  as  well  as  inquire  carefully  into  their 
circumstances  before  they  are  placed  upon  it.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  touch  of  parochial  money  has  sometimes  a  baneful 
effect.  As  it  comes  easily,  so  frequently  it  goes  as  easily,  and  it 
is  to  be  feared  that  much  of  the  out-door  relief  is  spent  upon  drink. 
Some  time  ago  the  Govan  Board  caused  a  special  visitation  to  be 
made  at  the  homes  of  their  out-door  paupers,  and  the  following  is 
an  abstract  of  the  results  : — There  were  432  paupers  visited  on  the 
evenings  of  the  pay-days,  and  of  these  only  271  were  found  at 
home  ;  24  of  the  latter  number,  or  fully  8  per  cent.,  were  found  to 
have  been  drinking  or  otherwise  misbehaving.  Of  these  21  were 
offered  the  poorhouse,  and  only  tliree  accepted  the  offer ;  two  were 
struck  off  the  roll,  and  one  was  cautioned.  There  were  also  313 
visits  paid  to  paupers  who  had  got  clothing  for  themselves  or 
children,  of  whom  only  245  were  found  at  home.  Of  this  latter  num- 
ber eleven  had  pawned  the  clothing,  and  seven  others  were  strongly 
suspected,  but  not  definitely  proven  guilty.  EiglU  of  the  eleven 
were  offered  the  "  House, "  only  one  of  whom  accepted  the  offer; 
two  were  struck  off  the  roll,  and  one  cautioned. 

Of  course  this  result  does  not  give  anything  like  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  extent  to  which  the  funds  are  misapplied.  In  a  large 
city  parish  like  ours,  where  there  are  above  1700  persons  on  the 
out-door  rolls,  and  these  scattered  over  the  whole  city,  it  is  only 
a  very  partial  surveillance  that  can  be  exercised  by  three  or  four 
out-door  Inspectors,  who  have  to  visit  as  many  new  applicants 
every  year  as  well.  Before  this  work  can  be  efficiently  done, 
the  ratepayers  themselves  must  come  forward  voluntarily  and 
render  their  assistance, — as  it  is  at  present  in  the  town  of  Elberfeld, 
and  as  it  was  upwards  of  fifty  years  ago  in  Glasgow  by  Dr. 
Chalmers  and  the  kirk  session  of  St.  John's  Parish.  In  Elberfeld, 
with  a  population  of  between  60,000  and  70,000,  the  town  is. 
divided  into  as  many  as  252  quarters,  arranged  according  to  the 


18C  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

number  of  houses  they  contain,  each  of  which  quarters  has  one 
voluntary  visitor,  whose  duty  it  is  to  visit  the  homes  of  the  out-door 
poor,  and  report  to  a  district  committee,  of  which  there  are  eighteen 
in  the  town.  By  this  means  imposture  is  detected  and  really  dis- 
tressing cases  succoured  ;  and  as  each  visitor  has  no  more  than  four 
families  to  look  after,  it  is  possible  for  even  "  a  much  occupied  man 
of  business  to  combine  the  duty  of  personal  visitation  of  the  poor 
with  the  duties  of  his  family  and  calling."  The  system  of  Dr. 
Chalmers  was  somewhat  similar  to  that  adopted  in  Elberfeld,  and 
was  attended  with  the  happiest  results,  in  the  reduction  of  pauper- 
ism and  in  the  relief  of  the  really  deserving  poor. 

Another  method  by  which  pauperism  might  be  mitigated  is  by 
the  centralisation  of  the  entire  system  of  relief  or  charity,  both 
public  and  private.  Our  poor-rates  are  not  to  be  measured  by  the 
mere  legal  assessments  levied.  In  every  city  and  town  there  are 
numerous  private  charities,  which  carry  on  their  operations  in 
glorious  independence  of  each  other.  In  a  city  like  Glasgow  there 
are  ten  times  the  amount  spent  in  private  that  is  spent  in  legal 
charity,  and  not  infrequently  the  same  persons  share  in  more  than 
one  of  these  charitable  societies.  Thousands  of  pounds  are  thus 
squandered,  and  the  poor  are  demoralised.  There  should  be  one 
grand  central  charity  clearing-house,  in  which  the  recipients  of 
relief,  not  only  from  Parochial  Boards  but  also  from  private 
charities,  should  be  classified  and  indexed,  and  their  history  and 
circumstances  condensed.  After  the  fashion  of  the  police  system 
in  Paris,  there  should  not  be  a  poor  person  who  obtains  charitable 
assistance  in  Glasgow  who  is  not  thoroughly  known,  and  his  history 
written  down  in  the  chronicles  of  this  great  central  organisation. 
Were  this  done  it  would  certainly  open  the  eyes  of  our  benevolent 
citizens  to  the  manner  in  which  their  hard-earned  money  is  being 
squandered  away. 

Another  scheme  for  the  diminution  of  pauperism,  although  it  be- 
longs to  the  extra  rather  than  to  the  intra  parochial  sphere,  is  the 
establishment  of  extensive  and  really  valuable  Friendly  Societies 
amongst  the  working  classes.  No  one  has  any  idea  of  the  amount 
that  is  already  being  invested  in  so-called  Friendly  and  Burial 
Societies, — a  great  portion  of  which  is  literally  thrown  away, 
because  invested  partly  in  worthless  and  partly  in  mere  Burial 
Societies,  instead  of  real  Benefit  or  Life  Societies.  Were  this 
principle  taken  up  and  wrought  out  in  a  truly  wise  and  com- 
prehensive system,  it  would  be  of  incalculable  advantage  to  the 

irking  classes.     Ordinary  Life  Insurance  Societies  have  been  of 


Mr.  Andrew  Wallace  on  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Laic.    187 

the  very  highest  benefit  to  the  middle  classes.  Why  should  a 
similar  principle  not  be  carried  farther  down  the  social  scale, 
whereby,  on  payment  of  a  small  weekly  sum,  a  man  may  be  insured 
against  ill  health,  want  of  work,  or  old  age,  as  well  as  against  the 
necessities  that  arise  at  death?  If  such  a  system  as  this  were 
carried  out  apart  from  mere  trades  unions,  and  on  a  broad,  sound, 
and  honest  principle,  so  that  no  man  of  ordinary  means  would 
have  any  excuse  for  being  uninsured,  then  the  poorhouse  test 
could  be  applied  with  far  greater  stringency,  and  an  inducement 
would  be  given  towards  greater  providence  and  self-reliance.  And 
this  is  a  scheme  which  could  be  worked  with  profit,  and  not  with 
loss,  to  those  who  undertook  the  labour  of  organising  it.  Ordinary 
Insurance  Societies  pay  well,  so  also,  I  am  persuaded,  would 
this. 

Within  the  last  few  years  various  attempts  at  Poor  Law  legis- 
lation have  been  made,  inaugurated  by  the  report  of  the  special 
committee  appointed  in  the  year  1869-70,  on  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Craufurd,  then  member  for  the  Ayr  Burghs.  That  gentleman  had 
made  very  serious  charges  against  the  present  Poor  Law, — blamed 
it  for  the  entire  existence  of  our  modern  pauperism,  and  especially 
poured  out  the  vials  of  his  wrath  against  the  Board  of  Supervision, 
demanded  its  immediate  abolition,  and  urged  a  reversion  back  to 
kirk-session  administration.  But,  like  a  great  many  other  amateur 
legislators,  he  soon  found  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  rashly  and 
erroneously,  and  he  had  at  length  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
things  were  not  so  bad  as  he  had  thought.  But  still  rash  and 
extreme  in  his  views,  he  went  too  far  in  the  very  opposite  direction 
from  what  he  first  intended.  Instead  of  abolishing  the  Board  of 
Supervision,  he  now  proposed  to  confer  upon  it  greatly  increased 
powers,  and  indeed  to  make  it  the  only  really  responsible  executive 
in  the  administration  of  the  Poor  Law.  Another  extreme  view 
he  propounded  was  his  scheme  of  large  combinations.  Allowing  one 
or  two  anomalous  cases  to  fill  up  his  entire  vision,  he  proposed  to 
combine  for  Poor  Law  purposes  every  parish  that  met  in  the  same 
Parliamentary  or  Royal  Burgh;  and  had  this  scheme  been  adopted, 
the  parishes  of  Glasgow,  Barony,  Govan  and  Gorbals,  with  a 
population  of  nearly  700,000,  would  have  been  united ;  and  Edin- 
burgh, St.  Cuthberts,  Canongate,  North  and  South  Leith,  with  a 
population  of  nearly  400,000  would  have  been  put  in  the  same 
position.  The  parochial  world  rose  up  in  arms  against  these 
extraordinary  proposals,  and  Mr.  Craufurd's  Bill  was  thrown  out 
on  the  second  reading  during  the  Session  of  1871-2.     Almost 


188  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

every  year  since  then  Government  has  introduced  a  Poor  Law 
Amendment  Bill ;  but  although  the  combination  clauses  were  de- 
leted, and  other  modifications  made,  the  Poor  Law  still  stands 
where  it  did.  The  country  does  not  seem  prepared  to  hand  over 
its  parochial  affairs  to  any  official  central  organisation.  The  prin- 
ciple of  local  self-government  seems  too  deeply  rooted  in  the  mind 
of  the  community  to  be  easily  upturned. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  however,  that  this  legislative  agitation  has 
been  productive  of  some  good  results.  Parochial  Boards  began  to 
take  the  alarm  and  to  set  their  houses  in  order.  More  carefulness, 
of  expenditure  began  to  be  observed,  undeserving  paupers  were 
struck  off  the  rolls,  and  the  poorhouse  test  was  more  strictly 
applied.  A  gradual  decrease  both  in  the  number  of  paupers  and  in 
the  expenditure  has  been  going  on,  until  it  has  really  become  some- 
what considerable.  And  there  is  room  for  a  still  further  decrease 
if  properly  gone  about.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  tbe  discussion  of 
parochial  affairs  will  not  stop  yet.  We  in  Scotland  are  far  behind 
our  English  neighbours  in  this  respect.  In  England  pauperism  is 
looked  upon  as  an  important  subject.  JTor  several  years  back 
conferences  have  been  held  in  various  districts,  at  which  peers 
and  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  landed  proprietors,  clergy- 
men, and  other  men  of  influence  have  taken  a  part.  The  subject 
has  been  discussed  in  all  its  bearings,  and  as  a  result  the  pauperism 
in  London  and  some  of  the  larger  towns  has  been  greatly  dimin- 
ished. It  is  strange  that  we  in  Scotland  are  so  apathetic  on  this 
question.  Our  public  men  avoid  it  as  they  would  the  plague, 
and  it  is  a  terra  incognita  to  all  but  a  limited  few.  I  trust  that 
the  example  set  by  the  Glasgow  Philosophical  Society  will  be 
followed  by  other  public  bodies,  and  that  a  greater  knowledge  and 
interest  in  the  subject  may  soon  prevail. 

I  can  only  glance  at  one  or  two  points  regarding  which  reform 
is  desirable.  In  my  opinion  something  can  be  said  for  a  public 
audit  of  parochial  accounts.  There  is  no  doubt  that  without  some 
supervision,  Parochial  Boards  are  prone  to  extravagance.  We 
have  seen  some  instances  of  this  in  our  own  city  quite  recently. 
But  I  do  not  think  it  desirable  that  the  discretion  of  Parochial 
Boards  within  well  defined  limits  should  be  taken  away.  It  would 
not  do  to  make  our  public  men — who  give  much  time  and  labour 
to  looking  after  the  poor — the  mere  servants  of  an  official  Central 
Board.  But  a  closer  connection  between  the  auditors  of  parochial 
accounts  and  the  Central  Board  should  be  instituted,  so  that  illegal 
extravagant  payments  should  be  rebuked,  and  certified  for 


Mr.  Andrew  Wallace  on  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Law.    189 

surcharge  at  the  instance  of  the  ratepayers  in  the  law  courts  when 
necessary. 

Another  important  point  in  which  reform  is  urgently  needed,  is 
the  constitution  of  Parochial  Boards.  The  present  system  is  radi- 
cally antiquated  and  unsound,  especially  in  rural  parishes,  where 
the  Boards  are  large  heterogeneous  bodies,  composed  of  several 
hundreds  of  persons  who  know  nothing  of  parochial  affairs.  And 
large  as  these  bodies  are,  the  distribution  is  grossly  unfair.  The 
Poor  Law  enacts  that  one-half  of  the  assessment  shall  be  borne  by 
the  owners  and  one-half  by  the  occupants  of  lands  and  heritages. 
Common  sense  and  equity  would  suggest  that  these  two  classes 
should  be  somewhat  equally  represented  in  the  administrative 
body.  But  instead  of  that,  a  portion  of  the  former  class — viz., 
owners  of  property  of  £20  rental  and  upwards,  are  all  members 
of  the  Boards,  while  the  rest  of  the  owners  and  the  occupants  are 
represented  by  only  from  four  to  thirty  elected  members.  As  an 
instance  of  this  glaring  inequality  may  be  quoted  the  Parochial 
Board  of  Old  Monkland,  which  has  become  notorious  of  late,  and 
which  is  made  up  of  560  members,  who  are  owners  as  aforesaid, 
while  all  the  rest  of  the  owners  and  tenants  are  represented  by  only 
twenty-three  elected  members  ?  It  is  impossible  that  justice  and  fair 
play  can  prevail  in  such  a  board.  Even  in  burgh al  parishes  and  com- 
binations, however,  where  the  representative  principle  is  observed, 
an  anomaly  also  exists,  in  the  appointment  of  kirk  session,  muni- 
cipal, and  other  members.  In  our  three  city  parishes,  for  example, 
which  are  composed  of  thirty-three  members  each,  about  one-fourth 
of  these  are  appointed  by  the  kirk  sessions,  the  magistrates,  and  the 
Commissioners  of  Supply.  This  ought  not  to  be;  for  while  it  may  be 
true  that  these  bodies  send  only  good  men  to  the  Boards,  the 
principle  is  unsound,  and  no  good  reason  exists  for  the  preference 
shown.  In  my  opinion,  all  the  Parochial  Boards,  both  in  town  and 
country,  should  be  representative  bodies,  elected  by  the  ratepayers 
as  a  body,  although  the  number  of  votes  accorded  to  each  might 
continue  as  it  is,  proportionate  to  the  property  qualification  possessed. 

The  law  relating  to  taxation  might  also  be  improved.  Shootings 
and  fishings  in  the  occupancy  of  the  proprietors  should  not  be 
exempt,  for  this  tends  to  prevent  the  proper  cultivation  of  land, 
and  to  the  curtailment  of  labour.  Feu-duties  should  also  be 
assessed;  for  why  should  the  owner  of  a  farm,  whose  rent  is 
limited,  be  heavily  taxed,  while  the  superior  of  a  feuing 
park,  which  yields  ten  times  more  than  the  farm,  goes  free? 
Possibly,  too,  large  investors  in  stock,  shipping,  and  other  non- 


190  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

heritable  investments  should  be  assessed;  for  why  should  a  specu- 
lative millionaire  only  pay  poor  rates  on  his  dwelling-house,  and 
a  poor  farmer  pay  on   his  entire  farm?     Deductions  from  gross 
rental  should  be  abolished,  and  an  equitable  classification  of  pro- 
perty, with  a  scale  of  rating,  introduced  in  their  place,  so  as  to 
make  assessments  in  accordance  with  the  means  of  the  persons 
assessed.     The  law  of  settlement  gives  rise  to  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  and  a  good  deal  of  expense ;  but  I  am  not  sure  that  its 
total  abolition  would  be  attended  with  good  results.     It  might 
give  rise  to  numerous  evictions  from  rural  districts,  which  have 
already  been  too  numerous,  and  the  large  towns  would  be  heavily 
burdened.     But  the  law  might  be  simplified  and  codified,  and  made 
less  productive  of  litigation.     Expensive  lawsuits  in  the  Court  of 
Session  should  be  prohibited.     A  court  of  arbitration,  consisting  of 
the  legal  members  of  the  Board  of  Supervision,  might  dispose  of 
mere  questions  of  law;  and  where  cases  are  brought  into  the  sheriff 
courts  in  disputes  about  matters  of  fact,  no  appeal  should  be  allowed 
beyond  the  sheriffs-principal.     Removals  of  paupers  should  be  sub- 
ject to  appeal  to  the  sheriff  or  Board  of  Supervision,  for  many  High- 
land parishes  are  very  harsh  in  ordering  paupers  home,  solely  as  a 
means  of  getting  quit  of  them.     Grants  from  the  consolidated  funds 
are  not  by  any  means  conducive  of  economy;  but  their  application 
•  to  lunacy  and  medical  relief  are  perhaps  advantageous  in  securing 
better  treatment  for  the  insane  and  the  diseased.     And  perhaps 
some  relief  should  be  given  from  this  fund  to  some  poor  overtaxed 
Highland  parishes,  although  it  would  require  to  be  done  very  cau- 
tiously, and  under  strict  supervision.     Possibly,  in  some  counties 
a  uniform  poor  rate  would  be  desirable,  although,  I  think,  if  this 
principle  were  universally  adopted,  it  would  lead  to  extravagance. 
The  boarding-out  of  orphan  children  has  wrought  better  in  Scotland 
than  in  England,  where  baby-farming  prevails  to  some  extent.    But 
the  system  requires  great  care  and  watchfulness,  so  as  to  prevent 
moral  contamination  and  cruel  treatment.     To  the  credit  of  the 
Scottish  peasantry,  it  must  be  said  that  very  few  cases  of  this  kind 
have  been  discovered.     On  the  contrary,  strong  ties  of  affection 
have  usually  been  formed  between  the  children  and  their  guardians, 
and  a  freer  and  more  wholesome  life  has  been  enjoyed  by  the  former 
than  if  they  had  been  brought  up  within  the  walls  of  a  poorhouse. 
The  new  Education  Act  has  imposed  a  considerable  additional  bur- 
den upon  Parochial  Boards  in  paying  for  the  education  of  non-pauper 
children,  whose  parents  are  unable  to  pay  the  fees.   The  Act  should 
be  amended  on  this  point,  and  these  cases  dealt  with  by  the  School 


Mr.  Axdiiew  Wallace  on  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Law.    191 

Boards — the  machinery  of  these  boards  being  quite  qualified  to 
overtake  this  duty.  Nothing  should  be  done  to  encourage,  but 
everything  to  discourage  pauperism;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that,  to  bring  people  into  familiar  contact  with  pauperism  for  the 
education  of  their  children,  has  the  tendency  to  break  down  the 
spirit  of  independence,  and  the  natural  shrinking  from  mendicity, 
which  I  am  persuaded  is  still  a  prominent  feature  in  our  national 
character. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  say  that  the  present  Poor  Law  of 
Scotland  is  by  no  means  such  an  obnoxious  law  as  many  suppose. 
It  has  not  conduced  to  the  greater  pauperism  of  the  community,  as 
the  statistics  we  have  quoted  abundantly  show.  There  is,  however, 
room  for  improvement  in'the  direction  of  economy,  but  this  is  the 
fault  of  the  administration  rather  than  of  the  law  itself.  The  im- 
provement could  be  effected  by  a  more  exact  and  uniform  audit  of 
accounts,  and  by  a  greater  interest  being  taken  in  the  expenditure 
by  the  ratepayers.  The  number  of  paupers  might  be  very  consid- 
erably reduced  by  more  frequent  visitation  and  inspection  of  the 
poor  in  their  own  homes,  not  only  by  officials,  but  by  voluntary 
unpaid  agents  or  visitors,  carefully  selected,  and  a  stricter  appli- 
cation of  the  poorhouse  test.  But  any  radical  cure  for  pauperism 
must  come  from  without — from  an  improvement  in  the  sanitary, 
social,  and  moral  condition  of  the  people.  Intemperance  must 
be  grappled  with  and  overcome,  habits  of  forethought  and  econ- 
omy must  be  inculcated  and  acquired,  and  the  efforts  of  chari- 
tably disposed  persons  must  be  directed  more  to  the  assisting  of 
the  poor  to'  support  themselves  and  their  relatives  than  to  the 
mere  relief  of  their  wants.  Mere  almsgiving  is  frequently 
not  true  charity,  but  the  reverse.  And  poor  people  should  be 
taught,  even  though  it  should  be  through  suffering,  that  a  shil- 
ling earned  by  honest  labour  is  better  than  ten  shillings  got  for 
nothing.  Should  these  somewhat  disjointed  and  desultory  remarks 
tend,  in  however  small  a  degree,  to  awaken  interest  and  direct 
thought  and  action  with  reference  to  the  huge,  melancholy,  per- 
plexing question  of  pauperism,  and  lead  to  some  measure  being 
adopted  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  poor,  I  shall  be 
amply  repaid  for  the  labour  I  have  bestowed  in  the  preparation  of 
this  paper. 

On  the  motion  of  the  Chairman,  a  vote  of  thanks  was  awarded 
to  Mr.  Wallace  for  his  paper. 


192  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


Discussion  ojt  Mb.  Wallace's  Paper. 

Mr.  Younger,  Chairman  of  the  City  Parochial  Board,  expressed 
his  general  concurrence  in  Mr.  Wallace's  opinions,  while  differing 
from  him  on  one  or  two  matters  of  detail  He  regarded  the  pre- 
sent Poor  Law  Act  as  a  substantial  success,  and  referred  to  the 
necessity  for  employing  the  poorhouse  test  as  much  as  possible,  for 
the  purpose  of  correcting  erroneous  ideas  on  the  part  of  the  poor  as 
to  the  nature  of  pauperism.  He  differed  from  Mr.  Wallace  with 
respect  to  the  way  in  which  aid  should  be  given  for  the  education 
of  poor  children,  contending  that  such  aid  should  be  publicly  re- 
garded as  a  mark  of  pauperism,  and  should  therefore  continue  to 
be  dispensed  by  Parochial  Boards. 

i  Mr.  Sigismund  Schuman  approved  generally  of  the  paper,  and 
described  the  organisation  of  the  visiting  committees  to  be  found 
in  Elberfeld  and  other  industrial  centres  in  Rhenish  Prussia.  He 
believed  that  such  an  organisation  would  probably  be  found  bene- 
ficial in  the  large  cities  of  Great  Britain. 

Mr.  M.  Conxal,  Chairman  of  the  School  Board  of  Glasgow,  had 
listened  with  pleasure  to  Mr.  Wallace's  paper,  and  approved  much 
of  the  idea  of  instituting  visiting  committees  for  the  regular  visita- 
tion of  the  poor.  He  had  for  many  years  been  convinced  that 
pauperism  in  large  cities  would  receive  its  death-blow  were  such 
committees  associated  with  the  Christian  Church;  and  he  antici- 
pated that  no  insuperable  difficulty  would  present  itself  in  bringing 
about  the  zealous  co-operation  of  all  denominations. 

Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith  and  Mr.  Alex.  Scott  both  concurred  in 
the  opinions  expressed  by  Mr.  Connal,  the  latter  referring  by  way 
of  illustration  to  the  Foundry  Boys  organisation  in  Glasgow,  which 
was  entirely  undenominational,  and  included  1,700  or  1,800  regular 
visitors. 

Mr.  Wallace,  in  reply,  referred  to  the  evil  results  of  want  of 
co-operation  amongst  charitable  societies,  but  dreaded  the  effect  of 
sectarian  feeling  in  the  way  of  carrying  out  the  scheme  indicated 
by  Mr.  Connal,  in  relation  to  Church  supervision.  He  thought 
that  individual  supervision,  apart  from  the  churches,  would  be 
preferable. 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  several  New  Species  of  Corals,     193 


XVIII. — On  the  Genua  Cyothoxonia  and  several  New  Species  from 
the  Carboniferous  Limestone  of  Scotland.  By  Mr.  James 
Thomson,  F.G.S.,  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Sciences  of  Liege,  Belgium,  and  Honorary  Mem- 
ber of  the  Royal  Ducal  Society  of  Jena. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  December  19,  1877.] 


Generic  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  turbinate,  conical  and 
cylindro-conical,  and  more  or  less  curved  or  twisted ;  epitheca  com- 
plete, with  annulations  of  growth;  calice  variable  in  depth,  and 
exhibiting  in  the  centre  of  its  floor  a  more  or  less  conspicuous 
styliform  columella.  The  septa  are  of  two  orders;  the  primary 
septa  extend  inward  to  the  columella,  and  the  secondary  septa 
are  considerably  shorter,  and  sometimes  hardly  recognisable.  In- 
ternal structure  triareal.  The  central  area  is  occupied  by  the 
styliform  columella,  which  in  a  transverse  section  is  seen  to  be 
formed  of  minute  cellular  tissue.  The  intermediate  area  ("  inter- 
lobular area")  is  composed  of  the  inner  margins  of  the  primary 
septa,  and  there  is  no  interlocular  tabula,  and  the  spaces  are  open 
from  the  superior  to  the  inferior  part  of  the  calice.  The  outer  area 
(" interseptal  area")  is  occupied  by  the  septa.  The  secondary 
septa  are  usually  short,  and  near  the  periphery  they  are  united  by 
sparsely  developed  interseptal  dissepiments.  There  is  a  septal 
fossula. 

The  longitudinal  section  exhibits  the  styliform  columella  in  the 
centre  of  the  corallum,  and  formed  by  sparse  vesicular  tissue.  The 
intermediate  ("  interlocular  area")  is  usually  open  for  three-fourths 
of  the  length  of  the  corallum,  and  at  the  lower  extremity  the 
primary  septa  are  seen  to  curve  inwards,  and  become  attached  to 
the  columella  in  the  centre  of  its  floor.  The  outer  ("interseptal 
area  ")  is  occupied  with  sparsely  developed,  convex,  interseptal  dis- 
sepiments, convexity  inwards.    In  PI.  II.,  Fig.  Id,  they  are  five  in 

Vol.  XL— No.  1;  o 


194  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

number,  and  in  some  forms  there  is  not  more  than  one  dissepiment 
in  the  interseptal  area. 

The  genus  Cyathaxonia  was  established  by  Michel  La  in  1846  for 
the  reception  of  a  group  of  corals,  which  in  some  respects  are  closely 
allied  to  the  genus  AxophyUum  of  M.  Edwards  and  J.  Haime.  (PI. 
III.,  Figs.  3,  3a,  4,  4a,  and  4b.)  It  is,  however,  separated  from  Axo- 
phyUum by  the  presence  of  a  deep  calice  and  tall  styliform  columella, 
and  by  the  union  of  the  primary  septa  to  the  columella  near  the 
lower  extremity  of  the  corallum ;  while  in  AxophyUum  the  primary 
septa  never  reach  the  columella,  and  are  intercepted  by  a  system  of 
more  or  less  remote  and  concave  tabula,  and  the  central  area  is 
usually  composed  of  more  or  less  spirally  twisted  lamella?. 

In  the  external  aspect  of  some  of  the  forms  which  I  have  grouped 
under  the  name  of  Cyathaxonia  (Plate  I.,  Fig.  3),  they  present  a 
close  resemblance  to  the  young  forms  of  ClisiophyUum  Dana,  but 
they  are  separated  by  characters  sufficiently  distinct  and  easily  recog- 
nisable, to  warrant  them  being  placed  in  the  genus  Cyathaxonia.* 

Firstiy, — We  have  in  several  species  a  conical,  calicinal  boss, 
which  is  formed  by  the  prolongation  of  the  primary  septa,  which 
near  their  inner  margin  bend  upwards  and  extend  to  the  styliform 
columella  in  the  centre  of  the  corallum ;  whilst  in  ClisiophyUum  the 
primary  septa  stop  short  of  the  centre  (PL  III.,  Figs.  5  and  5a)  ; 
and  the  coluinellarian  area  is  formed  by  more  or  less  numerous 
vertical  lamellae,  and  in  external  aspect  is  seen  in  the  form  of  a 
conical  boss,  which  in  a  transverse  section  the  cut  edges  of  the 
vertical  lamellae  are  seen  to  extend  from  the  inner  margin  of  the 
primary  septa  to  the  centre  of  the  central  area,  and  united  by  more 
or  less  dense  endothecal  dissepiments.     (PL  III.,  Fig.  5a.) 

Secondly , — The  intermediate  ("  interlocular  area  n)  in  Cyathaxonia 
is  open  from  the  superior  to  the  inferior  extremity  of  the  calice, 
and  there  is  no  interlocular  dissepiments  ;  whilst  in  ClisiophyUum 

*  I  am  satisfied  that  when  our  investigations  are  more  matured,  some  of 
the  species  hereafter  described  will  be  grouped  as  mere  varieties.  Indeed, 
the  transitions  from  the  one  species  into  that  of  its  next  ally  are  so  constant, 
that  I  am  persuaded  that  not  only  the  species  of  this  genus,  but  also  the  entire 
range  of  genera  and  species  of  the  carboniferous  period  will  require  to  be  re- 
modelled. Yea,  even  a  rearrangement  of  the  families  is  imperative  in  any 
satisfactory  system  of  classification, — a  result  which  can  only  be  successfully 
accomplished  by  the  co-operation  of  the  paUentologists  of  Europe,  who  have 
devoted  their  attention  to  this  obscure  branch  of  palaeontology ;  and  only  by 
that  means  may  we  hope  to  erase  not  only  synonyms  out  also  anomalies  that  at 
present  exist — an  opinion  shared  by  my  friend  Professor  De  Koninck,  who  is 
willing  to  be  one  of  the  co-operative  workers,  and  whose  aid  is  invaluable  in 
order  to  arrive  at  a  somewhat  satisfactory  system  of  classification. 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  several  New  Species  of  OoraU.     195 

the  "  interlocular  area "  is  closed  in  by  more  or  less  dense  inter- 
locular  dissepiments,  and  the  primary  septa  never  extend  to  the 
centre  of  the  corallum. 

Thirdly, — In  a  longitudinal  section  in  Cyathaxonia  the  styliform 
columella  is  seen  to  be  composed  of  more  or  less  sparse  vesicular 
tissue,  and  exposes  the  open  interlocular  area  and  the  sparsely 
developed  interseptal  dissepiments;  whilst  in  Clisiophyllum  the 
corallum  is  divided  by  a  median  columellarian  line,  which  extends 
from  the  crown  of  the  conical  boss  to  the  inferior  portion  of  the 
corallum;  and  the  central  area  is  composed  of  interlamellar  en- 
dothecal  convex  dissepiments,  convexity  outwards  and  pointing 
upwards;  and  the  "interlocular  area"  is  closed  in  by  convex 
tabula,  convexity  upwards;  and  the  "interseptal  area"  is  composed 
of  a  zone  of  dense  interseptal  convex  dissepiments,  convexity 
upwards  and  inwards,  and  arranged  in  oblique  rows. 


Cyathaxonia  profunda,  Thomson,     Sp.  no  v. 
Plate  L,  Figs.  1  and  1a. 

9 

Specific  CJiaracters. — Corallum  simple,  cylindro-conical  and  curved; 
epitheca  thin,  and  there  are  broad  irregular  annulations  of  growth ; 
calice  circular  and  very  deep ;  in  some  forms  it  extends  to  nearly 
the  base  of  the  corallum.  The  columella  is  stout,  and  a  portion  of 
the  primary  septa  ascend  to  the  crown  of  the  styliform  columella  as 
so  many  keeled  ridges.  The  septa  are  very  prominent,  and  a  short  dis- 
tance below  the  periphery  there  are  coarse  irregular  granulations  along 
their  lateral  margins.  There  are  twenty-four  primary,  alternating 
with  an  equal  number  of  secondary  septa.  The  latter  extend  inwards 
for  one  line  from  the  periphery.  The  fossula  is  small,  and  contains 
one  primary  septa  of  shorter  length  than  the  others  in  it.  Height 
of  corallum,  variable.  The  tallest  specimen  I  have  yet  discovered 
is  9  lines  long,  and  I  have  them  also  only  3  lines  long ;  diameter  of 
calice,  3}  lines  in  the  tallest  specimens. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  at  Cunningham-Bedland,  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  rotten  shale  that  is  interstratified  with  the  thin  bands 
of  limestone,  which  characterise  the  upper  portion. of  the  lower 
members  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  of  Scotland. 

This  species  is  distinguished  by  the  profound  calice,  and  the 
coarse  irregular  granulations  along  the  lateral  margins  of  the  septa, 
and  by  the  stout  and  keeled  columella. 


196  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


Cyathaxonia  tortuosa,  MUntter. 
Plate  L,  Kg.  2;  2a. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  cylindro-conical,  turbinate, 
curved,  and  twisted,  and  some  forms  are  adherent  upon  the  spines  of 
Producta;  epitheca  thick,  and  broad  irregular  annulations  of  growth ; 
calico  circular  and  shallow;  the  septa  are  rudimentary.  There 
are  twenty-four  primary  septa,  alternating  with  an  equal  number 
of  secondary  septa,  which  are  hardly  recognisable,  and  usually 
about  half  a  line  long.  The  columella  is  prominent,  and  slightly 
compressed  at  the  top.  The  septal  fossula  has  one  of  the  primary 
septa  half  the  length  of  the  others  in  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  variable ;  the  tallest  form  I  have  discovered 
is  13  lines  ;  diameter  of  calice,  2  J  lines.  The  turbinate  forms  are 
usually  half  that  length,  but  are  considerably  broader  in  the  calice. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  rotten  shale,  interstratified 
with  thin  bands  of  limestone,  near  the  base  of  the  carboniferous 
limestone  at  Cunningham-Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire,  and  Brockley, 
Lesmahagow,  Lanarkshire,  in  a  similar  horizon. 

This  species  is  readily  recognised  by  the  shallow  calice,  the  stout 
rudimentary  septa,  and  by  the  tall,  tortuous  aspect  some  of  the 
forms  assume. 


Cyathaxonia  domiformis,  Thomeon.    Sp.  nov. 

Plate  L,  Fig.  3. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  conical,  and  curved ;  epi- 
theca thick,  and  there  are  irregular  annulations  of  growth ;  calice 
circular,  shallow.  The  columella  is  dome-shaped,  and  occupies  fully 
a  half  of  the  area  of  the  calice.  The  septa  are  well  exposed,  and 
extend  sharply  downwards,  and  ascend  to  the  crown  of  the  dome- 
shaped  boss  in  the  centre.  There  are  thirty  primary,  alternating 
with  an  equal  number  of  secondary  septa,  and  the  inner  margins  of 
the  septa  are  minutely  granulated.  The  fossula  is  small,  and  con- 
tains a  single  short  septum. 

Height  of  corallum — I  have  specimens  from  1J  to  5  lines;  dia- 
meter of  calice,  3  lines  in  the  largest  specimen. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  Cunningham-Bedland  Quarry, 
near  Dairy,  Ayrshire,  in  a  rotten  shale  that  is  interstratified  with 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  several  New  Species  of  Corals.     11)7 

thin  hatads  of  limestone,  which  form  the  upper  members  of  the  lower 
beds  of  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland. 

This  species  diners  from  the  preceding  in  the  possession  of  a  stout 
conical  boss  in  the  centre  of  the  calico,  and  resembles  some  of  the 
young  forms  of  the  genus  ClisiophyUum.  It,  however,  diners  from 
that  genus  in  the  prolongation  of  the  primary  septa  to  the  centre 
of  the  corallum,  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  genus 
Cyathaxonia;  while  in  Clisiophyllum  the  primary  septa  never  extend 
into  the  central  area,  and  the  columellarian  space  is  always  occupied 
by  a  system  of  independent  lamellae. 

Cyathaxonia  Dibowskeyi,  Thomson,     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  I.,  Fig.  4. 

Specific  CJiaracters. — Corallum  turbinate,  curved,  and  frequently 
found  adherent  upon  the  spine  of  Producta;  epitheca  thin,  and 
there  are  broad  irregular  ampliations  of  growth ;  the  calice  is 
circular  and  moderately  deep,  and  tapers  sharply  inwards.  There 
are  twenty-six  primary  septa,  alternating  with  an  equal  number  of 
secondary  septa,  the  latter  extend  inwards  from  the  periphery  for 
fully  half  a  line.  The  columella  is  prominent  and  stout  at  the 
base,  and  tapers  slightly  towards  the  apex ;  and  there  are  delicate 
ridges  extending  from  the  inferior  to  the  superior  extremity  of  the 
Btyliform  columella,  one'of  which  is  more  prominent  than  the  others, 
and  passes  from  the  anterior  side  over  the  apex,  and  is  more  or  less 
crestiform  and  prominent  on  the  anterior  face.  The  fossula  is 
small,  and  one  of  the  primary  septa,  half  the  length  of  the  others, 
included  in  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  4 J  linos ;  diameter  of  calice,  3J  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  at  Cunningham- JBedland,  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  rotten  shale  interstratified  with  the  thin  bands  of 
limestone  which  characterise  the  upper  beds  of  the  lower  members 
of  the  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland. 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  naming  this  species  in  honour  of  Pro- 
fessor Dibowskey,  the  eminent  Russian  palaeontologist. 

Cyathaxonia  compressa,  Tfiomson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  L,  Fig.  6. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  turbinate,  curved,  and  some 
forms  are  found  adherent  on  the  spines  of  Producta  and  Lithostrotion 


198  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

juncewn  ;  the  epitheca  is  thin,  and  there  mre  minute  an n illations  of 
growth ;  the  calice  is  deep  and  broad.  There  are  twenty-tiro  primary 
septa,  which  alternate  with,  an  equal  number  of  secondary  septa, 
which  extend  inwards  from  the  epitheca  half  the  length  of  the 
primary.  The  fbsanla  is  deep,  and  one  of  the  primary  septa,  of 
shorter  length  than  the  others,  extends  into  it.  The  columella  is 
well  developed,  and  much  compressed  to  the  lower  extremity. 

Height  of  corallum — an  average  sized  form  is  5  lines ;  diameter  of 
calice,  3f  lines. 

Petition  ami  Locality. — Found  in  C^ytnm^t^m^l^AWnA  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  the  rotten  shale  that  is  interstratined  with  the  thin 
bands  of  limestone  which  characterise  the  upper  beds  of  the  lower 
members  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  all  the  other  species  of  this 
genus  by  the  presence  of  a  tall  stylifbrm  columella,  which  is  much 
compressed  to  the  base  of  the  calice,  and  the  secondary  septa  extend 
inwards  considerably  more  than  any  of  the  other  species  that  I  have 
discovered. 

Cyathaxonia  elegans,  Thompson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  L,  Fig.  5. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  conical,  and  slightly  curved, 
and  frequently  found  adherent  upon  the  spines  of  Produda;  the 
epitheca  is  smooth,  and  there  are  simulations  of  growth ;  the  calice 
is  deep  and  circular ;  the  septa  are  obscure  and  granular.  There 
are  thirty  primary,  alternating  with  an  equal  number  of  minute 
secondary  septa,  which  resemble  an  elongated  granule.  The  fossula 
is  hardly  recognisable,  and  one  of  the  primary  septa,  of  shorter 
length  than  the  others,  is  in  it.  The  columella  is  slender,  and 
slightly  raised  above  the  floor  of  the  calice  ;  and  the  septa  curve 
upwards,  and  expose  a  series  of  delicate  ridges  in  the  floor  of  the 
calice. 

Height  of  corallum,  4£  lines ;  diameter  of  calice,  2|  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  Cunningham-Bedland,  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  rotten  shale,  interstratified  with  the  thin  bands  of 
limestone  which  characterise  the  upper  beds  of  the  lower  members 
of  the  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland. 

This  species  is  distinguished  by  the  delicate  columella  and  obscure 
granular  septa,  and  the  thin  epitheca ;  indeed,  the  thinness  of  the 
wall,  including  the  septa,  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  distinguish  this 
from  all  the  other  species  of  this  genus. 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  several  New  Species  of  Corals.     199 

Cyathaxonia  expansa,  Thomson.    Sp.  nov. 

Plate  L,  Fig.  7. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  turbinate,  and  curved; 
epitheca  thin,  with  annulations  of  growth;  calice  circular,  broad,  and 
everted  towards  the  periphery;  the  columellarian  area  is  broad  and 
dome-shaped,  and  there  are  several  elongated  plates  which  form  a 
slightly  raised  keel  in  the  centre  of  the  columellarian  area.  The 
septa  are  of  two  orders.  The  primary  pass  inwards,  and  at  the  inter- 
locular  area  they  bend  abruptly  downwards  to  the  outer  margin  of 
the  columellarian  area;  they  then  ascend  and  pass  into  the  centre  of 
the  boss,  and  are  attached  to  the  plates  that  form  the  mesial  keel. 
There  are  forty-eight  primary,  alternating  with  an  equal  number  of 
secondary  septa.  The  secondary  extend  inwards  to  within  a  line  of 
the  outer  margin  of  the  columellarian  area.  The  septal  fossula  is 
large,  and  is  occupied  by  three  of  the  primary  septa,  which  fall 
short  of  the  others  by  half  their  length. 

Height  of  corallum,  4£  lines;  diameter  of  calice,  from  3£  to  5 
lines. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  rotten  shale  interstratified 
with  thin  bands  of  limestone  which  characterise  the  upper  beds  of 
the  lower  members  of  the  carboniferous  limestone,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire,  and  in  the  same  horizon  at  Brockley, 
Lesmahagow,  Lanarkshire. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  Cyath.  compressa  by  the  shape  and 
broad  calice,  and  the  septa  are  more  delicate  and  in  greater  numbers 
proportionately,  and  the  styliform  columella  is  never  so  tall. 


Cyathaxonia  cornua,  De  Koninck. 

Plate  I.,  Fig.  8. 

Specific  CJuiracters. — Corallum  simple,  conical,  cylindro-conical, 
and  curved,  and  some  forms  are  adherent  upon  the  spines  of  Pro- 
ducta;  epitheca  thin,  and  there  are  irregular  and  shallow  annulations 
of  growth ;  calice  circular  and  deep ;  the  septa  are  well  developed, 
and  at  the  interlocular  area  they  project,  and  contract  the  calice  for 
fully  half  its  depth.  There  are  eighteen  primary,  alternating  with 
an  equal  number  of  secondary  septa;  and  there  are  granulations 
along  the  face  of  each  septum.     The  fossula  is  small,  and  one  of 


200  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

the  primary  septa  extends  half  the  length  of  the  others  into  it:  the 
columella  is  tall,  prominent,  and  conical. 

Height  of  corallum,  4}  lines;  diameter  of  calice,  2}  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  Cunningham-Bedland  Quarry, 
near  Dairy,  Ayrshire,  in  rotten  shale  that  is  interstratified  with 
thin  bands  of  limestone,  near  the  base  of  the  carboniferous  lime- 
stone in  Scotland ;  also  in  the  banks  of  the  Poniel  Water  at  Brock- 
ley,  Lesmahagow,  in  a  similar  horizon  of  strata. 


Cyathaxonia  mammilata,  Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  L,  Fig.  9. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  turbinate,  and  frequently 
adherent  upon  the  spines  of  Producta  and  Lithostrotian  junccum  ; 
epitheca  thin,  and  there  are  minute  annulations  of  growth ;  calice 
circular,  and  expands  sharply  outwards,  indeed  some  forms  approxi- 
mate to  evertion.  There  are  twenty-four  primary  septa,  which  extend 
inwards  to  within  half  a  line  of  the  columella,  where  they  bend 
sharply  downwards  for  a  line  in  depth,  they  then  curve  upwards 
and  become  attached  to  the  columella.  There  are  an  equal  number 
of  minute  secondary  septa,  and  each  is  more  or  less  mammilated- 
The  fossula  is  obscure,  and  one  of  the  primary  septa,  half  the 
length  of  the  others,  extends  into  it. 

Height  of  average  corallum,  4  J  lines ;  diameter  of  calice,  31  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  rotten  shale  that  is  interstrati- 
fied  with  the  thin  bands  of  limestone  which  characterise  the  upper 
beds  of  the  lower  members  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scot- 
land. 

This  species  is  distinguished  by  the  mammilated  aspect  of  the 
septa,  and  it  expands  more  sharply  than  Cyath.  granulata. 


Cyathaxonia  Konincki,  Edwards  and  ffavme. 

Plate  III.,  Fig.  10. 

Specific  Characters.  — Corallum  simple,  turbinate,  curved,  and  some 
forms  are  adherent  on  the  spines  of  Producta;  epitheca  thick,  and 
there  are  irregular  annulations  of  growth,  and  faint  longitudinal 
lines ;  the  calice  is  circular,  moderately  deep ;  the  columella  is  pro- 
minent, stout  at  the  base,  and  compressed  at  the  apex ;  the  septa 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  several  New  Species  of  Corals.     201 

are  well  developed  and  thin.  There  are  twenty-four  primary, 
alternating  with  an  equal  number  of  minute  secondary  septa. 

Height  of  corallum,  5  lines ;  diameter  of  calice,  3£  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  Cunningham-Bedland,  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  rotten  shale,  interstratified  with  the  thin  bands  of 
limestone  which  characterise  the  upper  beds  of  the  lower  members 
of  the  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland. 

This  species  is  distinguished  by  the  form  of  the  columella, — it  is 
stout  at  the  base,  tapers  upwards,  and  is  much  compressed  at  the 
apex. 


Cyathaxonia  Newburyi,  Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 
Plate  IL,  Figs.  1,  1a,  1b,  lc,  Id,  and  Ie. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple  and  slightly  curved;  epitheca 
thin,  with  delicate  encircling  lines  and  irregular  annulations  of 
growth ;  calice  circular  and  shallow ;  the  septa  are  well  developed. 
There  are  thirty-eight  primary,  alternating  with  an  equal  number 
of  secondary  septa,  and  each  is  laterally  united  by  rectangular  inter- 
septal  dissepiments.  The  columellarian  area  is  broad  and  compressed 
near  the  apex.  The  fossula  is  small,  and  is  occupied  by  two  of  the 
primary  septa,  of  shorter  length  than  the  others. 

Height  of  corallum,  Fig.  1,  10  lines;  diameter  of  calice,  11  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  Cunningham-Bedland,  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  rotten  limestone,  interstratified  with  the  thin  bands  of 
limestone  which  characterise  the  upper  beds  of  the  lower  members  of 
carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland ;  and  also  at  Brockley,  Lesma- 
hagow,  Lanarkshire,  in  a  similar  horizon  of  strata. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  all  the  other  species  of  the 
genus  by  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the  columellarian  area,  and 
it  resembles  in  some  respects  several  of  the  forms  belonging  to  the 
genus  Clisiophyllum;  if,  however,  differs  from  that  genus  in  the  pro- 
longation of  the  primary  septa  to  the  styliform  columella  in  the 
centre  of  the  corallum.  M.  Edwards  and  J.  Haime  in  their 
description  of  Clisiop.  coniseptum,  state  that  "some  of  the  largest  septa 
advance  quite  to  the  centre  of  the  calice."  This,  however,  I  have 
in  no  instance  found,  and  have  prepared  several  hundreds  of  sections 
of  that  genus.  The  central  area  in  every  instance  exhibits  lamellae 
which  are  distinct  in  themselves,  and  there  is  always  a  zone  of 
intermediate  plates  between  the  inner  ends  of  the  primary  septa, 
and  the  lamella?  in  the  central  area  (Plate  3,  Fig.  5a);  while  in 


2011  Pk 


CjtatJtaxoiua  the  ■ii«Mnpni*i-»^  cuaiacteiistir  is  tin  prolongation  of 
the  primary  wept*  inu>  thr  centre  a:  Xki-  mrmWum. 

1  havt*  grtxu  ]Utmsim  u.  nammr  mis  species  it  honour  of  Profeowr 
JSewbuiy.  liit  cnuii£n~<  Antenna?  paigymuHopg;. 

lyaiiuukoui:.  to  oust.    Tjwiwi«».      Sp  nor. 

Sfmcciri:  iVurwvir*. — '.  or-ilmn.  ainiirit*.  conical  ami  sii^htlr  enrveo. 
and  vonif  forms  art  ailiier-jir  111*01.  Vim  sran«  o:  2*rodueta :  epitheca 
aniooth.  thick,  and  ui*.  anruaman*  of  rrowii  am  "weL  marked ; 
oalicv  circular,  ahuliov .  anil  t^vennl  near  tin  periphery:  the  septa 
art-  m  out.  Tiicrt  art  Tirenrs  -ash:  lTTiiuarv  B^pta.  alternating  with 
an  rquu.  xiuiutnT  of  mmixit  s-t-canuary  «»pia.  Tbt-  columella  is 
jiromuttur:  anil  «iouv  and  taiters-  Towards  th:  sniteriar  extremity, 
and  i*  siurhvT  roiiniT-jsswl  Tin  iossnifc  is  deei*.  and  ocrunied  by 
tuir  of  xiir  lcrnuart  mm>^  of  shorter  ienrxi.  thai,  xhf  other*. 

Htuci.:  of  coruZhm..  f  Ime*     ninmergr  of  caiirt.  r»;  lines. 

1*4*0**1*.  aub  J.«irti£i?t. — Found  il  C ttt  n  in cJianv-Bedianc.  I*alry. 
Ayrahir;.,  in  rvcioi.  Muut.  ^n^erKimtiiifd  via.  Vnii.  bands  of  hme- 
fitoiM\  *  hioL  art  usually  found  lomiinr  xhf  npiier  tied*  of  xht  iowcr 
ntcMuhor*  of  thr  rarlt.oiift!rouf  ]:mcsioii*  21.  SroiicntL 

Thi*  sprtdt*  if  di>x:i!rTiisiit*d  iron:  CytUkasxmin  Jjiimnmimyu  itt 
noarost  al}y,  ir  th*  p>s&<*&5K]i.  i*f  Eiouver  Btnita.  xht  columella  is 
e&ouu*r,  the  cot*.".",  tat.  i>  m.»rt  rarirV.  and  iht    calicf   is  nsuaExiiDi 


CT&u;ax.oii&  :  •r:»Iift»rt.  JLr\"7.'flSRr/. 

?iss<  11..  Fi£  :» 

ijpas^rlf  Caa^arsjnr.. — CrinHtiL  sulju*,  raziiLnai/fi.  and  enrrad: 
epruieca  iLin,  ▼iii  j.&^civtiiiiikl  Hires-  azii  ther*  are  axrxuaxions  of 
£rvvth  aiii  m:rr%  Iwy^AT  t-ZiETiiiiic  Hzk*:  the  ofclir*  is  circtcjar 
ax*d  "renr  dw:;  lit  s<*vl&  *rr  co&nLr*.  TLf-rr  ar*  "nrfiXTT-fMir 
|*MBarT,  vli:*l  ki  iLe  !•**£  rnrTx  iz-Triris  iz.  i>r:isiafSi?  xMcea. 
ajud  abo^iai  f.»r  k  aL>n  disrjkijr*  wj-  iL*  siir  cc  lie  avrTafaMi : 
y<uwfr  alven^Vr  "»"i*»i:  an  *•.  ;^1  -XL2Li»er  of  seosztiarr  k jca  vfeiea 
aw*  Lardl^  rwoyr  :.tal»lr.  T:_r  cvl^zs^-lla  is  rccdirsent,  ari  tapers 
to  a  dcucav;  |y>JLi  ai  :i;-r  s^itric-r  exTrerniix.  The  foss^Ia  is  obs>TBPe» 
a^i  ia  vwrjpl*d  lv  a  t-riiuarr  siepr^zii  of  ahrner  icx^ih  lhaa  the 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  several  New  Species  of  Corals.     203 

Height  of  corallum,  3  lines — there  is  a  small  portion  of  the  inferior 
extremity  a  wan  ting;  diameter  of  calice,  2£  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  Cunningham-Bedland,  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  the  rotten  shale  that  is  interstratified  with  the  thin 
beds  of  limestone  which  characterise  the  upper  beds  of  the  lower 
members  of  the  carboniferous  limestone  of  Scotland. 

This  species  is  distinguished  by  the  deep  calice,  the  obscure  rudi- 
mentary septa,  the  tall  tapering  columella,  and  the  longitudinal 
lines  of  the  epitheca. 


Cyathaxonia  Armstrong!,  Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 
Plate  IL,  Figs.  4  and  4a. 

Specific  Cliaracters. — Corallum  simple,  acutely  turbinate,  and 
cono-cylindrical ;  epitheca  thin,  and  marked  with  delicate  annula- 
tions  of  growth ;  calice  sub-circular  and  deep.  The  septa  are  well 
developed.  There  are  forty-eight  primary  septa,  which  are  slightly 
mammillated  towards  their  outer  margin,  and  some  of  them  are 
curved  at  their  inner  margins;  and  these  alternate  with  an  equal 
number  of  secondary  septa,  which  extend  inwards  half  the  length 
of  the  primary  septa.  The  fossula  is  deep,  and  three  of  the  primary 
septa,  half  the  length  of  the  others,  extend  into  it.  At  the  eleventh 
septum  from  either  side  of  the  fossula  there  are  depressions,  and 
several  of  the  primary  septa  fall  short  of  the  others,  and  converge 
into  these  bilateral  depressions. 

Height  of  corallum,  9  lines  ;  diameter  of  calice,  Id  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  Cunningham-Bedland  Quarry, 
near  Dairy,  Ayrshire,  in  rotten  shale  that  is  interstratified  with 
thin  bands  of  carboniferous  limestone,  forming  the  upper  beds  of  the 
lower  members  of  that  period. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  the  CyatJi.  Newburyi  by  the  sub- 
mammillated  aspect  of  the  septa  towards  the  periphery,  and  by  the 
presence  of  the  bilateral  depressions ;  and  I  have  great  pleasure 
in  naming  it,  in  honour  of  its  discoverer,  Mr.  James  Armstrong, 
to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  allowing  me  to  add  it  to  the  list  of 
species. 

Cyathaxonia  ejecta,  Thomson.    Sp.  nov. 
Plate  IL,  Fig.  5. 
Specific  Characters.  —  Corallum  simple,  small,  cono-cylindrical; 


i 


204  PtZxzkix:  Sxx*  i  GUspx. 

ephhaca  thick,  and  there  are  irregular  annmlations  of  growth.  The 
calice  is  circular  and  moderasely  deep,  and  the  margin  is  everted. 
The  columella  is  stoat,  and  is  ejected  fbEr  half  a  line  above  the 
periphery.  The  primary  sepca  are  obscure  in  the  superior,  and  a 
portion  of  them  coalesce  and  become  prominent  at  the  inferior 
extremity,  and  converge  inwards  and  ascend  to  the  crown  of  the 
columella.  Th^re  are  twenty-six  primary,  alternating  with  an 
equal  number  of  secondary  septa,  and  each  is  coarsely  granulated 
down  to  the  floor  of  the  calice.  The  fossula  is  large,  and  is  occupied 
by  one  of  the  primary  septa,  half  the  length  of  the  others. 

Height  of  corallum,  4  lines,  the  largest  specimen  yet  discovered  ; 
diameter  of  calice,  2j  lines. 

Pormaiion  and  Locality. — Found  in  rotten  shale,  interstratified 
with  the  thin  bands  of  limestone  which  characterise  the  lower  mem- 
bers of  the  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland — Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

The  thick  epitheca.  and  the  stout  and  prominent  columella  dis- 
tinguish this  species  from  CyatA.  j.nvlifera  of  M'Chesney.  its  nearest 
ally,  by  the  prominent  columella/and  by  the  granulations  of  the  septa, 
and  the  calice  is  considerablv  shallower. 


Cyathaxonia  grannlata.  Thomson.     Sp.  nor. 

Plate  1L,  Fig.  & 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  short,  acutely  turbinate, 
and  slightly  curved ;  epitheca  thick,  with  minute  simulations  of 
growth ;  calice  circular  and  deep ;  columella  prominent,  com- 
pressed, and  delicately  striated,  and  the  stria?  are  onamented  with 
minute  granules.  The  primary  septa  are  well  developed,  and  are 
conspicuous  at  their  union  with  the  columella.  There  are  twenty- 
four  primary  septa,  alternating  with  an  equal  number  of  secondary 
septa,  and  each  is  minutely  granulated.  The  fossula  is  small,  and 
there  is  one  primary  septum,  half  the  length  of  the  others,  in  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  5}  lines  ;  diameter  of  calice,  4  lines. 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  in  Cunninghani-Bedland,  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  rotten  shale,  interstratified  with  the  thin  bands  of  lime- 
stone which  characterise  the  lower  members  of  the  carboniferous 
limestone  in  Scotland. 

This  species  is  distinguished  by  the  presence  of  the  minute  granular 
on  the  septa  and  columella. 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  several  New  Species  of  Corals.     205 

Cyathaxonia  Cyathaminuta,  Thomson.     Sp.  nov. 

Plate  IL,  Fig.  7. 

Specific  Character*. — Corallum  simple,  cornute,  and  curved; 
epitheca  thin,  and  there  are  delicate  longitudinal  striae,  produced  by 
the  outer  margin  of  the  septa  pressing  through  the  thin  epitheca. 
There  are  irregular  shallow  annulations  of  growth ;  the  calice  is 
circular  and  deep ;  the  columella  is  short  and  prominent,  and  half 
a  line  long,  and  the  crown  is  depressed  in,  like  a  miniature  cup'; 
the  septa  are  well  developed,  and  more  or  less  mammillated  from  the 
periphery  to  the  interlocular  area,  where  they  project  and  circum- 
scribe the  lower  portion  of  the  calice.  There  are  thirty  primary 
septa,  alternating  with  an  equal  number  of  minute  secondary  septa. 
The  fossula  is  large,  and  two  of  the  primary  septa,  of  shorter  length 
than  the  others,  are  in  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  largest  specimen,  6£  lines ;  diameter  of  calice, 
4  lines. 

Formation  and  Locality. — Found  in  rotten  shale  interstratified 
with  the  thin  bands  of  limestone  that  characterise  the  upper  portion 
of  the  lowest  beds  of  carboniferous  limestone  in  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  all  the  other  species  of  the 
genus  by  the  possession  of  a  cup-like  depression  in  the  crown  of  the 
styliform  columella. 

Cyathaxonia  spiralis,  Thomson.    Sp.  nor. 
Plate  IL,  Figs.  8,  8a,  8b,  8c,  8d. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  cono-cylindrical  and  turbinate, 
curved ;  epitheca  thin,  with  broad  annulations  of  growth ;  calice 
irregular  and  shallow;  the  septa  are  irregularly  developed,  and 
project  in  the  interlocular  region.  There  are  thirty-six  primary 
septa;  some  of  them  project  more  than  the  others,  and  these 
alternate  with  an  equal  number  of  secondary  septa.  The  columella 
is  stout  and  prominent,  and  formed  of  convolute  plates,  which  at 
their  lateral  margins  are  slightly  reflex  and  resemble  a  spiral  screw. 
The  fossula  is  large,  and  is  occupied  by  one  of  the  primary  septa,  half 
the  length  of  the  others. 

Height  of  corallum,  Fig.  8,  9  lines;  diameter  of  calice,  7$  lines. 


206  Ffi^cMptarA:  Soskfy  if  GZupor. 

This  specimen  is  imperfect*  the  qtitbeca  and  a  portion  of  the  calico 
ire  awanting.     The  smallest  specimen  is  4  lines  long. 

Porititm  amd  Lo?a2ii\\ — Found  in  rotten  shale  interstratified  with 
thin  bands  of  limestone,  near  the  base  of  the  carboniferous  lime- 
atone,  ax  Cnnnincham-Bedland.  Dahr.  AvTshire. 

This  species  is  readily  distinguished  by  the  spiral  aspect  of  the 
columella. 

CVathaxonia  retirclaxa.  TbtmuxHt.     Sp.  nov. 

ria»  11L.  F^.  L 

SperJAc  tfbtrw-tarx. — Corallum  simple,  turbinate,  and  more  or  less 
curved  ;  epitheca  thin,  and  there  are  delicate  annuls tions  of  growth, 
and  is  sometimes  found  adherent  on  the  spines  of  Produtta ;  the 
calice  is  deep :  the  columella  is  slightly  raised  above  the  floor  of  the 
calice,  and  is  more  or  leas  reticulata.  The  primary  septa  are  not 
prominent,  and  at  their  inner  extremity  they  converge  inward  and 
ascend,  and  form  a  reticulate  eolumellanan  boas.  In  a  corallum  2| 
lines  long  there  are  twenty- two  primary  septa,  which  alternate  with 
an  equal  number  of  minute  secondary  septa,  which  are  hardly  recog- 
nisable. The  fossula  is  small,  and  two  of  the  primary  septa,  of 
shorter  length  than  the  other*,  are  included  in  it. 

Height  of  corallum.  -J  lines :  diameter  of  calice,  f  lines.  Since  the 
plate  was  engraved  I  hare  discovered  another  specimen  4  lines 
long,  and  the  calice  is  6  lines  broad. 

* 

Position  and  Locality. — Found  at  Cunningham-Bedland,  Dairy, 
Ayrshire,  in  rotten  shale,  interstratified  with  the  thin  bands  of 
limestone  which  characterise  the  upper  beds  of  the  lower  members 
of  the  carboniferous  limestone  in  Scotland. 

This  species  is  distinguished  from  all  the  other  species  of  the 
genus  by  the  reticulate  aspect  of  the  crown  of  the  columellarian 
area,  and  is  closely  allied  to  the  genus  Petrxtia  of  Miinster :  it  how- 
ever differs  from  that  genus  in  the  presence  of  a  definitely  formed 
columella. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PLATESL 

Plate  L 

Kg-  I-— Cyathaxonia  profunda,  Thomson.     Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 

Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 
Pig.  la.— Transverse  section  of  the  same.   Broekley,  near  Lcsmahacow,  Lanark- 


Explanation  of  the.  Plates.  207 

Fig.  2. — Cyathaxonia  tortuosa,  Minister.  Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham  - 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  2a. — Transverse  section  of  the  same.  Brockley,  near  Lesmahagow,  Lanark- 
shire. 

Fig.  3. — Cyathaxonia  domi/ormis,  Thomson.  Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  4. — Cyathaxonia  Dibowskeyi,  Thomson.  Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  5. — Cyatliaxonia  elegant,  Thomson.  Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  6. — Cyathaxonia  compressa,  Thomson.  Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  7. — Cyathaxonia  expansa,  Thomson.  Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  8. — Cyathaxonia  cornua,  Do  Koninck.  Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham  - 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  9. — Cyailiaxonia  mammillata,  Thomson.  Lower  carboniferous,  Cunning- 
ham-Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  10. — Cyatliaxonia  Konincki,  Edwards  and  llaime.  Lower  carboniferous, 
Cunningham-Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 


Plate  1L 

Fig.  1. — Cyathaxonia  Nrwhnryi,  Thomson.     Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  1a. — Calice  of  the  same. 

Fig.  1b  and  lc. — Young  examples  of  the  same. 

Fig.  Id. — A  transverse  section  of  the  same.     Lower  carboniferous,  Brockley, 
Lesmahagow,  Lanarkshire. 

Fig.  1e. — A  young  example,  adherent  on  the  spine  of  Producta.     Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire, 

Fig.  2.—  Cyathaxonia  robusta,  Thomson.     Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  3. — Cyathaxonia  prolifera,  M'Chcsney.     Lower  carboniferous,  Cunning- 
ham-Bedland, Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  4. — Cyathaxonia  Armstrongi,  Thomson.     Lower  carboniferous,  Cunning- 
ham-Bedland, Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  4a. — The  calice  of  the  same. 

Fig.  5. — Cyathaxonia  ejecta,  Thomson.      Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  6.—  Cyathaxonia  granulate,  Thomson.    Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  7.— Cyathaxonia  Cyathaminuta,  Thomson.    Lower  carboniferous,  Cunning- 
ham-Bedland, Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  8. — Cyatliaxonia  spiralis,  Thomson.     Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 
Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 

Fig.  8a.— The  calice  of  the  same. 

Fig.  8b,  8c,  8d. — Young  examples  of  the  same. 


208  Philosophical  Socidy  of  Gbugote. 


Plate  I1L 

Fig.  1. — Cyathaxtmia  reticulata,  Thomson.    Lower  carboniferous,  Cunningham- 

Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 
Fig.  1a. — A  transverse  section  of  the  same. 
Kg.  2.* — Azopkyilum  Lower  carboniferous,  Cnnnin^ham- 

Bedland,  Dairy,  Ayrshire. 
Fig.  3. — Axophyllum  Lower  carboniferous,  BrockJey.  Les- 

mahagow,  Lanarkshire. 
Fig.  3a. — A  transverse  section  of  the  same. 
Fig.  4. — AxophyUum  expaiuum,  Edwards  and  Haime.      Lower  carboniferous, 

Charlestown,  Fifeshire. 
Fig.  4a. — The  calice  of  the  same,  in  which  there  is  a  fragment  of  Htterophy&a 

grandig. 
Fig.  4b. — A  transverse  section  of  the  same. 
Fig.  5. — Clisiophyllum  Lower  carboniferous,  Broadstone, 

Beith,  Ayrshire. 
Fig.  5a.  —A  transverse  section  of  the  same. 

*  I  have  introduced  these  three  8]>ecies  of  AxophyUum,  and  one  species  of 
ClitktphyUum,  in  order  that  the  structure  of  these  genera  may  be  compared  with 
that  of  the  genus  Cyatftcxonia. 


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MINUTES   OF   SESSION. 


November  14,  1877. 

The  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow  met  this  evening  in  the 
Queen's  Rooms,  Clifton  Street,  Professor  Sir  William  Thomson, 
LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S.,  the  President,  in  the  Chair. 

Mr.  George  Watson  and  Mr.  Archibald  Robertson  were  appointed 
Auditors  of  the  Treasurer's  Accounts. 

Professor  Graham  Bell  delivered  an  Address  "  On  the  Principles 
and  Applications  of  the  System  of  Visible  Speech  invented  by  his 
father,  Mr.  Alexander  Melville  Bell." 


November  21,  1877. 

The  Seventy-sixth  Annual  General  Meeting  of  the  Philosophical 
Society  of  Glasgow,  for  the  election  of  Office-Bearers,  and  other 
business,  was  held  this  evening  in  the  West  Hall  of  the  Upper 
Corporation  Galleries,  Sir  William  Thomson,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S., 
President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  were  elected  Members  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 

Hugh  Thomson,  M.D.,  330  Renfrew  Street;  Mr.  William  Key, 
Gas  Manager,  1  Lancelot  Place,  Pollokshields;  Mr.  Daniel  Suther- 
land, Greenbrae,  Pollokshields;  Mr.  Robert  Cochrane,  7  Crown 
Circus,  Dowanhill;  Mr.  William  J.  A.  Donald,  Whitolaw  Cot- 
tage, Both  well;  Mr.  James  Buchanan,  Grain  and  Seed  Merchant, 
389  to  393  Parliamentary  Road;  Samuel  Sloan,  M.D.,  4  Newton 
Terrace;  Mr.  Matthew  Forsyth,  I.Ai,  Architect,  191  West  George 
Street;  Mr.  Hugh  F.  Smyth,  Bank  Agent,  2  Dumbarton  Road;  Mr. 
James  Beveridge,  Teacher,  81  Gloucester  Street;  Robert  Renfrew, 
M.D.,  42  Lansdowne  Crescent;  Mr.  Robert  A.  Robertson,  Nen- 
thorne,  Aytoun  Road,  Pollokshields;  Mr.  R.  Cooper  Rundcll. 
Underwriters  Rooms,  Royal  Exchange;  Abraham  Wallace,  M.D.. 
4  Newton  Place,  Charing  Cross;   Mr.  George  Murray,  Teacher, 

Vol.  XL— No.  1.  r 


210  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

18  Carrington  Street;  Mr.  William  R  Muir,  Shipbroker,  345  Bath 
Crescent;  Mr.  James  Macaulay,  Teacher,  29  Arlington  Street; 
John  Pirie,  M.D.,  26  Elmbank  Crescent 

Mr.  E.  M.  Dixon,  the  Interim-Secretary,  read  the  Annual  Report 
by  the  Council  on  the  State  of  the  Society,  which  was  approved  of, 
and  ordered  to  be  printed  in  the  Proceedings. 

Report  on  the  State  of  the  Society,  1876-77. 

1.  Membership. — The  number  of  members  on  the  roll  at  the 
beginning  of  Session  1876-77  was  638;  during  the  Session  59  were 
added,  and  1  was  reinstated  from  the  suspense  list — making  in  all 
698.  Of  this  number  18  resigned;  4  left  Glasgow,  their  names 
being  placed  upon  the  suspense  list;  12  died;  and  7  were  struck 
off  for  non-payment  of  annual  subscriptions — leaving  on  the  roll  at 
the  beginning  of  the  present  Session,  657. 

2.  Sections. — As  shown  by  the  papers  published,  or  otherwise 
mentioned,  in  the  last  number  of  the  Proceedings,  very  good  work 
was  done  during  the  Session  1876-77  by  nearly  all  the  Sections. 
The  Sanitary  and  Social  Economy  Section  having  recently  made 
new  arrangements,  promises  to  show  increased  activity  during  the 
ensuing  Session. 

3.  Future  Accommodation  of  the  Society. — During  the  Session 
1876-77  the  Council  have  had  under  consideration  arrangements 
for  the  removal  of  the  Society  upon  the  termination,  in  1879,  of  the 
current  lease,  and  a  Committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith, 
Mr.  Deas,  Mr.  Honeyman,  Mr.  Dron,  with  Dr.  Wallace  as  Convener, 
has  already  made  some  progress  in  looking  for  premises  suited  to 
the  wants  of  the  Society.  No  step  has,  as  yet,  been  taken  which 
commits  the  Society  in  any  way;  but  the  Council  attach  great 
importance  to  these  negotiations,  which  scarcely  admit  of  being 
prolonged  beyond  the  ensuing  Session,  and  which  will  probably 
have  a  great  effect  upon  the  future  usefulness  of  the  Society. 

Mr.  John  Robertson,  Librarian,  read  the  Annual  Report  by  the 
Library  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Library,  which  was  approved 
of,  and  ordered  to  be  printed  in  the  Proceedings. 

Libeary  Committee's  Report. 

Tour  Committee  have  to  report  that  space  for  the  books  which 
have  been  added  to  the  Library  during  the  year  has  only  been  got 


Minutes  of  Session.  211 

by  removing  a  number  of  the  older  and  less  important  works  to  an 
adjoining  room.  On  this  account  a  thoroughly  satisfactory  shelf- 
arrangement  of  the  books  cannot  be  carried  out  in  the  meantime. 
Many  of  the  works  of  which  volumes  or  parts  were  wanting  have 
been  rendered  complete;  but  in  a  number  of  cases  this  cannot  now 
be  done,  unless  any  of  the  members  are  able,  without  inconvenience, 
to  supply  some  of  the  defects  from  their  private  libraries.  To  those 
gentlemen  who  have  already  done  so  the  thanks  of  the  Society  are 
due.  The  preparation  of  the  new  Catalogue  has  been  steadily  carried 
on.  The  labour  of  cutting  up,  arranging,  spacing  out  and  pasting 
on  the  titles  has  been  much  more  tedious  and  troublesome  than  had 
been  anticipated.  The  work  now  approaches  completion,  and  will 
be  ready  for  the  use  of  the  members  in  a  week  or  two.  Stock  has 
been  taken  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society.  They  have  been  care- 
fully arranged  and  packed  for  convenient  reference.  Besides  the 
three  copies  reserved  for  the  library  there  now  remain  only  twenty- 
nine  complete  sets.  There  are  also  688  volumes  which  cannot  be 
formed  into  sets,  and  about  800  odd  parts,  which  are  not  available 
even  for  making  up  volumes. 

During  the  year  1876-77,  94  volumes  and  195  parts  of  works 
have  been  added  by  purchase,  62  volumes  and  167  parts  have  been 
received  in  exchange,  7  volumes  and  10  pamphlets  have  been  pre- 
sented to  the  Library,  and  11  volumes  havo  been  received  from 
H.  M.  Commissioners  of  Patents.  At  present  exchanges  are  made 
with  88  Societies.  163  Volumes  have  been  bound,  and  28  are  in 
the  hands  of  the  binder.  The  total  additions  to  the  Library  have 
been  174  volumes,  362  parts,  and  10  pamphlets,  making  a  total  of 
546, — by  far  the  largest  number  that  has  hitherto  been  added  in 
one  year.  The  thanks  of  the  Society  are  due  to  those  gentlemen 
who  have  kindly  presented  works  to  the  Library.  Acknowledg- 
ment of  these  will  be  found  in  the  Proceedings. 

John  Robertson. 

The  Statement  of  Accounts  for  Session  1876-77,  by  Mr.  Mann, 
the  Treasurer,  having  been  printed  in  the  circular  calling  the 
meeting,  was  held  as  read,  was  approved  of,  and  ordered  to  be 
printed  in  the  Proceedings. 


212  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Abstract  of  Treasurer's  Account. 
Session  1876-77. 


§x. 

1876.    Nov.  1. 

To  Balances  from  last  Session,  viz. 

• 

Investment  with  Corporation 1 

Water  Com- 

•  missioners,  .           . 

• 

• 

£400    0 

0 

■  In  Union  Bonk  of  Scotland,  . 

• 

• 

19    4 

5 

In  Treasurer's  Lands, 

• 
• 

• 
• 

3    0 

4 

Net  Funds, 

* 

• 

'  1877.    Oct  31. 

To  Entry  Money  from  59  New  Members,  at  21s., 

£61  19 

0 

„  Annual  Dues  from  2  Members 

for  1875-76,  at  21s., 

£2    2 

0 

„  Annual   Dues  from  2  Original 

• 

Members  for  1876-77,  at  5s. , 

0  10 

0 

„  Annual  Dues  from  593  Ordinary 

Members  for  1876-  77,  at  21s. , 

627  18 

0 

.  „  Annual    Dues  .  from    57    New 

Members  for  187G  -77,  at  21s., 

59  17 

0 

GOO    7 

0 

,,  Life  Subscriptions  from  13  Ordi- 

. 

nary  Members,  at  £10, 10s., 

£130  10 

0 

„  Life  Subscriptions  from  2  New  ■ 

Members,  at  £10,  10s., 

21    0 

0 

157  10 

0 

„  Chemical  Section— 

<  1  Associate  for  1874-75,   . 

• 

• 

£0    5 

0 

1       Do.      for  1875-76,   . 

• 

• 

0    5 

0 

20      Do.      for  1876-77,   . 

• 

• 

G  10 

0 

£422    4    9 


M 


Proceedings  and  Waste  Taper  sold, 


909  IG 


7    0    0 
„  Sanitary  and  Social  Economy  Section— 

16  Associates  for  1876-77,  .  .400 

„  Physical  Section — 

G  Associates  for  1874-75,  . 
11       Do.       for  1875-76,  . 

2       Do.      for  1876-77,  . 

2       Do.       for  1877-78,  . 

„  Corporation  of  Glasgow,  interest  on  "Exhibi- 
tion Fund,"  . 

„  Interest  from  Bank,      .... 

„  Do.  from  Corporation  Water  Commis- 
sioners' Bond,         .... 


£1  10    0 
2  15    0 
0  10    0 
0  10    0 

5    5 

71  12 
0  19 

0 

5 
44 

£49    7    6 
6    8  11 

15  IG    0 

•            • 

£1,420  17 

64 

Minutes  of  Session. 

Cr. 

1877.    Oct.  31. 
By  Salaries  and  Wages,    ..... 
„  Sum  voted  to  Committee  on  Patent  Laws, 
„  New  Books  and  Binding,        .... 
,,  Printing  Proceedings^  Circulars,  &c,  • 
,,  Postage  and  delivery  of  Circulars,  Letters,  and  Parcels, 
,,  Stationery,       ...... 

,,  Insurance,  Gas,  Coal,  Cleaning,  &c,  . 
, ,  Furnishings  and  Repairs,        .... 
,,  Petty  Charges  and  Sundries,  .... 
„  Subscriptions  to  Bay  Society,  1877,    .  .  1 

Palaeontographical  Society,  1877,      1 


»» 


,,  Physical  Section — 

Expenses  per  Secretary  of  Section, 

,,  Sanitary  and  Social  Economy  Section — 
Expenses  per  Secretary  of  Section, 

„  Balances,  viz.: — 

Investment  with  Corporation  Water  Com- 
missioners, .... 
Investment  with  the  Board  of  Police, 


Less,  due  Treasurer, 

Net  Funds, 


1    0 
1    0 


£400  0    0 

350  0    0 

£750  0    0 

55  7  10 


£171 

20 

113 

200 

32 

8 

130 

28 

-5 

7 


12  0 

0  0 
10  0 

3  10 

14  34 

1  5 
0  0 

18  6} 

12  e 

5  4| 


2    2    0 
5    0    6 

0  16    0 


094  12    2 


£1,420  17    6( 


Glasgow,  IGth  Xocember,  1877.— We,  the  Auditors  appointed  to  examine 

the  Treasurer's  Accounts,  have  examined  the  same,  of  which  the  above  is  an 

Abstract,  and  found  them  correct,  the  Balances  at  31st  October  last  being, 

Investment  with  Corporation  Water  Commissioners,  Four  hundred  pounds; 

Investment  with  Board  of  Police,  Three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds ;  and  due  to 

the  Treasurer,  Fifty- five  pounds  seven  shillings  and  tenpencc;  leaving  a  net 

Fund  of  £694,  12s.  2d. 

(Signed)       GEORGE  WATSON. 

ARCHD.  ROBERTSON. 


The  Society  then  proceeded  to  the  election  of  Office-bearers. 

It  was  moved  by  the  Chairman,  and  carried  by  acclamation,  that 
Dr.  Andrew  Fergus,  M.R.C.S.Eng.,  be  appointed  President  in  room 
of  Sir  William  Thomson,  whose  term  of  office  had  expired. 

It  was  moved  by  the  Chairman,  and  carried  by  acclamation,  that 
Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan  be  appointed  Vice-President  in  room  of 
Dr.  Fergus. 


214:  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

The  re-election  of  Mr.  John  Robertson,  the  Librarian,  and  Mr. 
John  Mann,  C.A.,  the  Treasurer,  was  proposed  by  the  Chairman, 
and  agreed  to  by  acclamation. 

It  was  moved  by  the  Chairman,  and  carried  by  acclamation,  that 
Mr.  E.  M.  Dixon,  RSc,  be  appointed  Secretary,  in  room  of  the  late 
Mr.  William  Keddie. 

The  Chairman  stated  that,  in  addition  to  the  four  vacancies 
caused  in  the  Council  by  tho  retiring  by  rotation  of  Mr.  Alex.  Scott, 
Professor  Jas.  Thomson,  Mr.  St  John  Vincent  Day,  and  Professor 
George  Forbes,  two  vacancies  had  occurred  from  the  election  of  Mr. 
E.  M.  Dixon  to  the  offico  of  Secretary,  and  from  the  election  of  Dr. 
Jas.  B.  Russell  to  the  office  of  President  of  the  Sanitary  and  Social 
Economy  Section.  The  Society  would  therefore  ballot  for  six 
members,  and  of  that  number  the  gentleman  having  the  fewest 
votes  would  take  the  place  of  Dr.  Russell,  and  would  remain  in 
office  during  the  last  of  the  three  years  for  which  that  gentleman 
had  been  elected  to  serve,  while  the  gentleman  having  the  next 
fewest  votes  would  take  the  place  vacated  by  Mr.  Dixon,  and  so 
remain  in  office  for  two  years. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  nominated  to  fill  the  six  vacancies, 
viz. : — Mr  John  Honeyman,  Dr.  Henry  Muirhead,  Professor  J.  G. 
M'Kendrick,  M.D.,  Mr.  Arch.  Robertson,  Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith, 
Mr.  Jas.  Thomson,  F.G.S.,  Mr.  John  Jex  Long,  Dr.  James  Morton, 
Mr.  Jas.  B.  Murdoch,  Mr.  Sigismund  Schuman,  Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman, 
Dr.  Robert  Bell. 

Mr.  Alex.  Scott,  Mr.  John  Kirsop,  Mr.  W.  C.  Coghill,  and  Dr. 
J.  B.  Russell  agreed  to  act  as  Scrutineers  of  votes. 

The  Scrutineers  reported  that  the  following  had  the  greatest 
number  of  votes,  viz. : — 


Mr.  John  Honeyman,     . 

63  votes 

Professor  M'Kendrick,  . 

60     „ 

Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith,    . 

•         55     „ 

Dr.  Henry  Muirhead.    . 

•         54     „ 

Mr.  James  Thomson,  F.G.S., 

49     „ 

Mr.  Archibald  Robertson, 

•        38     „ 

These  gentlemen  were  therefore  declared  by  the  Chairman  to- 
have  been  duly  elected  Members  of  the  Council. 

The  Chairman  then  referred  to  the  loss  sustained  by  the  Society 
during  the  past  year,  through  the  sudden  deaths  of  two  of  its  oldest 
Office-bearers,   Mr.  William   Keddie  and   Dr.   Bryce,  and  called 


Minutes  of  Session.  215 

attention  to  the  fund  that  is  at  present  being  raised  for  the  benefit 
of  the  widow  and  family  of  the  former. 

A  paper  was  then  read  by  Dr.  David  Foulis  upon  the  ease  of  a 
patient  whose  power  of  speaking  distinctly  by  means  of  an  artificial 
larynx  was  exhibited  before  the  Society. 

"  Dr.  A.  K.  Irvine  also  received  the  thanks  of  the  Society  for  the 
experimental  illustration  of  some  points  connected  with  the  vowel 
sounds  emitted  by  the  patient,  and  for  his  kindness  in  permitting 
the  artificial  larynx  designed  by  him,  and  which  was  the  one  used 
by  the  patient,  to  be  exhibited  before  the  Society." 

Mr.  James  R.  Napier,  F.R.S.,  also  received  the  thanks  of  the 
Society  for  a  short  communication  regarding  the  mechanical  quali- 
ties of  a  species  of  steel  manufactured  by  the  Steel  Company  of 
Scotland. 

Sir  Wm.  Thomson,  having  vacated  the  Chair,  then  read  a  paper 
on  the  Resonance  of  Cavities;  and,  on  the  motion  of  Dr.  Fergus, 
the  Society  thanked  him  warmly  for  his  communication,  and  for 
his  conduct  as  President  of  the  Society  during  the  last  three  years. 

The  Society  then  adjourned  to  meet  on  Wednesday  the  5th 
December. 


December  5,  1877. — Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  t/ie  Chair. 

On  the  motion  of  Dr.  Muirhead,  the  Secretary  was  instructed  to 
amend  the  Minute  of  the  last  Meeting  as  regards  the  vote  of  thanks 
passed  by  the  Society  on  the  occasion  of  the  reading  of  the  paper 
by  Dr.  Foulis,  by  adding  the  following  sentence,  viz. : — 

"  Dr.  A.  K.  Irvine  also  received  the  thanks  of  the  Society  for  the 
experimental  illustration  of  some  points  connected  with  the  vowel 
sounds  emitted  by  the  patient,  and  for  his  kindness  in  permitting 
the  artificial  larynx  designed  by  him,  and  which  was  the  one  used 
by  the  patient,  to  be  exhibited  before  the  Society." 

The  following  were  elected  members  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 

David  Foulis,  M.D.,  191  Hill  Street;  Mr.  Robert  Turnbull,  I.A., 
122  Wellington  Street;  Mr.  G.  W.  Clark,  Dumbreck  House;  Mr. 
Harry  J.  Smith,  Ph.D.,  27  Buckingham  Terrace;  Wm.  C.  Thomson, 
M.D.,  The  Firs,  Partick;  Robert  Kirk,  M.D.,  Newton  Cottage, 
Partick;  Mr.  J.  E.  Hunter,  Grain  Merchant,  30  Hope  Street; 
Donald  Morrison,  LL.D.,  Glasgow  Academy,  4  Victoria  Terrace, 
Dowanhill. 

In  conformity  with  notice  given  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society  on 


216  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

November  SI,  Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smitli  moved— "That  ft  be  remitted 
to  the  Council  to  inquire  into  and  report  upon  the  question  of 
remuneration  to  the  Treasurer."  The  motion  was  seconded  by- 
Mr.  George  Watson. 

The  previous  question  was  moved  by  Mr.  John  Jex  Long,  and 
seconded  by  Mr.  John  Mayer. 

The  original  motion  was  carried  by  a  majority. 

On  behalf  of  Mr.  Thomas  Muir,  the  Chairman  gave  notice  of  the 
following  motion  to  be  brought  before  the  Society  at  its  next  meet- 
ing, viz. : — "  That  the  printing  of  the  papers  read  before  the  Society 
and  its  Sections,  or  of  abstracts  of  these  papers,  shall  be  delayed  to 
the  end  of  the  Session." 

A  paper  was  read  by  Mr.  Alexander  Buchan,  Secretary  to  the 
Scottish  Meteorological  Society,  "  On  some  of  the  more  striking 
Relations  of  Meteorology  to  Public  Health."  Mr.  Buchan  received 
the  thanks  of  the  Society. 

The  Society  then  adjourned  to  meet  on  Wednesday  the  19th  inst. 


December  19,  1877. — Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  tJtc  CJiair. 

The  following  were  elected  members  of  the  Society,  viz  : — 

Mr.  James  Thomson,  1  Broom  Park  Terrace ;  Mr.  John  Foulds, 
115  Bath  Street;  Mr.  John  Colvil,  62  St.  Vincent  Street;  Mr.  M. 
Emile  Louis  De  Montereau,  Nautical  Instrument  Maker,  107 
Pollok  Street;  Mr..  Donald  Macphail,  M.B.,  CM.,  Western 
Infirmary;  Mr.  David  Newman,  12  Annfield  Terrace,  Partick 
Hill;" Mr.  Duncan  Dewar,  Kirkhill,  Cambuslang;  Mr.  Andrew  Hill, 
31  Arlington  Street;  Mr.  Robert  Sorley,  1  Kersland  Street, 
Hillhead;  Mr.  Joseph  Wilson,  C.E.,  175  Hope  Street;  Mr.  Robert 
Robertson,  41  Cumberland  St. 

The  Council  reported  to  the  Society,  in  terms  of  the  following 
motion  carried  at  the  meeting  on  December  5,  viz  : — "  That  it  be 
.remitted  to  the  Council  to  inquire  into  and  report  upon  the  question 
of  remuneration  to  the  Treasurer." 

Notice  was  given  by  the  President  of  the  following  motion  to  be 
made  in  name  of  the  Council  at  the  meeting  on  January  9,  viz : — 
"  That  while  the  office  of  Treasurer  to  this  Society  shall  continue 
to  be  honorary,  Mr.  Mann  be  asked  to  accept  the  sum  of  fifty 
guineas  in  consideration  of  extra  services  on  his  part  in  the  past." 

Mr.  Thomas  Muir  moved:— "That  the  printing  of  the  papers 


Minutes  of  Session.  217 

read  before  the  Society  and  its  Sections,  or  of  abstracts  of  these 
papers,  shall  be  delayed  to  the  end  of  the  Session."  The  motion 
was  seconded  by  Mr.  Schuman.  . 

Mr.  John  Mayer  moved  the  previous  question.  This  motion 
was  seconded  by  Mr.  John  Jex  Long.  i 

The  original  motion  was  carried  by  the  votes  of  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  present. 

On  the  motion  of  the  President  the  Society  unanimously  nomi- 
nated the  following  gentlemen  a  committee  to  draw  up,  for  inser- 
tion in  the  Proceedings,  obituary  notices  of  the  late  Dr.  Bryce 
and  of  the  late  Mr.  Keddie,  viz: — Mr  James  Thomson,  F.G.S., 
Mr.  Wiinsch,  Dr.  J.  B.  Russell,  Dr. .  Eben.  Watson,  Mr.  John 
Mayer,  and  Mr.  D.  Mackinlay.  .  ■      •   • 

The  Opening  Address  to  the  Sanitary  and  Social  Economy 
Section  was  delivered  in  presence  of  the  Society,  by  Dr.  J.  B« 
Russell,  the  President.  ,  Dr.  Russell  received  the  thanks  of  the 
Society  for  his  address.  .  -  ■    ,  ; 

A  paper  was  read  by  Mr.  James  Thomson,  F.G.S.,  communicating 
particulars  recently  ascertained  regarding  the  Cyathaxonia  .Genus 
of  Carboniferous  Corals.  Mr  Thomson  was  thanked  by  the  Society 
for  his  communication.       -  .,  .  .    ■,  » 

The  Society  then  adjourned  to  meet  on  Wednesday  the  9th 
January,  1878.  • 


January  9,  1878. — Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  were  elected  members  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 

Mr.  W.  D.  Scott  Moncriefty  75  Buchanan  Street ;  Mr.  James 
Couper,  37  Lansdowne  Crescent ;  Mr.  Robert  Hunter  Dunn,  4 
Belmont  Crescent:  Mr.  Frederick  W..  Thomson,  3  St.  John's 
Terrace,  Hillhead. 

At  the  request  of  Messrs.  Wiinsch  and  Mayer  these  gentlemen 
were  allowed  to  retire  from  the  committee  appointed  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  Society  to  draw  up  obituary  notices'  of  the  late 
Dr.  Bryco  and  the  late  Mr.  Keddie. 

The  President  intimated  that  the  Council  had  inadvertently 
neglected  to  consider  the  bearing  of  the  16th  Article  in  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Society  upon  the  motion  announced  to  be  made  at 
the  present  meeting  regarding  the  donation  of  fifty  guineas  to  the 
Treasurer  for  extra  services ;  and  his  proposal  that  the  motion  in 


218  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

question  be  postponed,  in  order  to  give  the  Council  an  opportunity 
of  considering  that  point,  received  the  sanction  of  the  Society. 

Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier  gave  notice  of  the  following  motion  to  be 
brought  before  the  Society  at  the  next  meeting,  viz : — "  That  in  the 
first  sentence  of  Section  XV.  of  the  Constitution  all  the  words 
after  the  word  '  sent '  to  the  end  of  the  sentence  be  omitted,  and 
the  words  'immediately  to  all  members'  substituted." 

Mr.  Mayer  gave  notice  of  the  following  motion  to  be  brought 
before  the  Society  at  next  meeting,  viz. : — "  Inasmuch  as  there 
seems  to  be  some  doubt  in  regard  to  the  strict  meaning  of  Clause 
6  in  Rule  XII.  of  the  Society's  Constitution,  it  is  hereby  remitted 
to  the  Council  to  frame  a  clause  in  respect  of  which  there  can  be 
no  doubt  whatever/' 

The  motion,  "  That  the  printing  of  the  papers  read  before  the 
Society  and  its  Sections,  or  of  abstracts  of  these  papers,  shall  be 
delayed  to  the  end  of  the  Session,"  which  was  carried  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  Society,  was  again  introduced  by  Mr.  Thomas  Muir, 
in  accordance  with  Article  XIII.  of  the  Constitution. 

Mr.  James  R.  Napier  moved  the  previous  question.  This  motion 
was  seconded  by  Mr  James  Mactear. 

Considerable  discussion  followed,  which  was  finally  adjourned  by 
a  majority  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Society,  upon  an  amendment 
to  that  effect  introduced  by  Mr.  Alex.  Scott,  and  seconded  by  Mr. 
W.  R  W.  Smith. 

A  paper  was  read  by  Professor  J.  G.  M'Kendrick,  M.D.,  "  On 
Recent  Researches  concerning  the  Glycogenic  Function  of  the 
Liver."     Professor  M'Kendrick  received  the  thanks  of  the  Society. 

The  Society  adjourned  to  Wednesday  the  23rd  January. 


January  23,  1878— Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  were  elected  members  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 
Mr.  J.  Crooks  Morison,  L.D.S.,  341  Bath  Street;    Mr.  Archibald 
Robertson,  36  Hope  Street;  Mr.  J.  D.  Marwick,  F.R.S.E.,  Town- 
Clerk  of  Glasgow ;  Mr.  D.  E.  Outram,  1G  Grosvenor  Terrace,  Hill- 
head. 

The  President  intimated  that,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Council  held  on 
January  16,  it  was  resolved,  with  the  consent  of  Mr.  Thomas  Muir 
and  Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier,  to  recommend  to  the  Society  that  the 
motion  introduced  by  Mr.  Muir  in  name  of  the  Council,  and  the 


Minutes  of  Session.  219 

discussion  of  which  stood  adjourned  to  the  present  meeting,  and  also 
the  motion  of  which  notice  had  been  given  by  Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier 
at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Society,  should  both  be  withdrawn.  The 
Society  adopted  the  recommendation. 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith,  Dr.  William  Wallace 
then  read  Article  XVI.  of  the  Constitution,  and  explained  its 
object.  He  concluded  by  moving  "That,  while  the  office  of 
Treasurer  to  this  Society  shall  continue  to  be  honorary,  Mr.  Mann 
be  asked  to  accept  the  sum  of  fifty  guineas,  in  consideration  of  extra 
services  on  his  part  in  the  past.*'    Mr.  Kirsop  seconded  the  motion. 

After  considerable  discussion  regarding  the  bearing  of  Article 
XVI.  upon  the  grant  of  money  proposed  in  the  motion,  it  was  pro- 
posed as  an  amendment  by  Mr.  John  Jex  Long,  "  That  Mr.  Mann 
be  rewarded  for  his  extra  services  by  the  voluntary  subscription  of 
the  members  of  the  Society." 

Mr.  John  Mayer  seconded  the  amendment.  The  motion  was 
carried  by  a  majority. 

Mr.  John  Mayer  then  moved  as  follows: — "Inasmuch  as  there 
seems  to  be  some  doubt  in  regard  to  the  strict  meaning  of  Clause  6 
in  Rule  XII.  of  the  Society's  Constitution,  it  is  hereby  remitted  to 
the  Council  to  frame  a  clause  in  respect  of  which  there  can  be  no 
doubt  whatever." 

The  motion  not  being  seconded  was  lost. 

A  paper  was  read  by  Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier,  F.R.S.,  and  Professor 
J.  G.  M'Kendrick,  M.D.,  "  On  the  Chemical  and  Microscopic 
Analysis  of  an  Unsound  Wine."  The  Society  accorded  its  thanks 
to  the  readers  of  the  paper. 

The  Society  then  adjourned  to  the  6th  February. 


February  C,  1878. — Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  tiw  CJtair. 

The  following  were  elected  members  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 

Mr.  A.  Malloch  Bayne,  32  India  Street;  Mr.  David  Fulton,  C.E., 
135  Buchanan  Street. 

Dr.  William  Wallace  introduced,  for  the  second  time,  the  follow- 
ing motion  in  the  name  of  the  Council,  viz. : — "  That  while  the 
office  of  Treasurer  to  this  Society  shall  continue  to  be  honorary,  Mr. 
Mann  be  asked  to  accept  the  sum  of  fifty  guineas  in  consideration 
of  extra  services  on  his  part  in  the  past." 

Mr.  Deas  seconded  the  motion. 


220  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

•  Mr.  John  Mayer  contended  that  the  grant  of  money  proposed  in 
the  motion  involved  a  violation  of  Article  XVI.  of  the  Society's 
Constitution. 

On  a  vote  being  taken,  there  voted  for  the  motion  thirty-nine*, 
and  against  it  two. .  Mr.  John  Mayer  protested  against  the  Society's 
action  in  the  matter,  and  requested  that  this  be  recorded  in  the 
minutes.  ... 

{Mr.  John  Mann  expressed  his  thanks  to  the  Society  for  the 
recognition  of  his  services  as  conveyed  in  the  motion  that  had  been 
.  carried,  intimated  his  resignation  of  the  office  of  Treasurer,  and 
requested  that  Auditors  might  then  be  appointed. 
. .  On  the  suggestion  of.  Dr.  M'Kinlay,  and  with  the  general  ap- 
proval of  the  meeting,  the  President  requested  Mr.  Mann  to  favour 
the  Society  by  reconsidering  his  decision. . 

A  paper  was  read  by  Professor  James  Thomson,  LL.D.,  C.E., 
"On  House  Drainage  and  Sewerage,  Basement  Storeys,  Sunk  Flats, 
and  Dry  Rot."  The  thanks  of  the  Society  were  accorded  to  Pro- 
cessor .Thomson  for  his  paper;  and  the  discussion  of  it  was  post- 
]>oned  to  an  extra  meeting  of  the  Society  to  be  held  for  that  purpose 
-on  February  13. 


February  13,  1878. — Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  t/ie  Cliair. 

.  •  ■ 

The  following  were  elected  members  of  the  Society,  viz.: — 
Mr.  Joseph  Hilliard,  65  Renfield  Street;  Mr.  M.  Michaelson, 
3  Sandyford  Place. 

The  discussion  of  the  paper  read  before  the  Society  by  Professor 
James  Thomson,  LL.D.,  C.E.,  on  the  6th  inst.,  then  occupied  the 
meeting,  and  it  was  finally  resolved  that  the  discussion  should  be 
continued  before  the  Architectural  Section  on  the  27th  inst. 


February  20,  1878. — Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  t/te  Chair. 

The  following  were  elected  members  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 
Mr.  "William  Hodge,  15  Hillsborough   Square,  Hillhead;    Mr. 
James  S.  Mitchell,  10  Great  Western  Terrace. 
The  following  papers  were  read,  viz.: — 
1.  "Observations  on  the  Contractions  of  Muscle  on  Stimulating 


Minutes  of  Session.  221 

the  Nerve."      By  Dr.  John  Barlow,  Muirhead  Demonstrator'  of 
Physiology  in  the  University  of  Glasgow.    *  '  ■■-.,■ 

•  2.  "  An  Experiment  on  the  disinfection  of  Typhoid  Excreta."   By 
Dr.  John  Dougall.  •  ■»  ■ 

'   3.  "  On  Lichens."     By  Dr.  James  Stirton.  '  ■< 

These  gentlemen  received  the  thanks  of  the  Society  for  their 
papers.  ' .         •*■    •■        ».••»»     i 

Mr.  Wunsch  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Society  a  circular 
from  the  Geological  Society  of*  Edinburgh,  in  which  it  was  proposed 
to  erect,'  by  subscription,  a  memorial  of  a  simple  kind  id  the  Pass 
of  Inverfarikaig,  to  mark  the  spot  where  the  late  Dr.*  James  Bryce 
met  his  death  last  year  while  engaged  in  geological  exploration. 
Mr.  Wiinsch  stated  that,  as  a  portion  of  .the  necessary  funds  had 
been  already  subscribed,  a  subscription,  limited  to  five  shillings 
each,  from  friends  in  Glasgow  would  suffice  to  complete  the  pro- 
posed memorial.  On  the  motion  of  the  Chairman  a  Subscription 
List  was  opened,  and  ordered  to  lie  upon  the  table  till  next 
meeting.  ...... 


March  6,  1878. — Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

•    The  following  was. elected  a  member  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 

Mr.  W.  Kinross  White,  9  Fitzrby  Place.    .   ■         "  ■ 
.   The  following  papers  were  read,*  viz. : — » ' 

1.  "On  the  Safety  Lamps  at  present  used  in  Coal  Pits."  By 
Dr.  William  Wallace.'  r        •  ■  '     •  ■  •  ' .  .       .   .  « 

2.  "  On  a  New  Gas  Regulator."  .  By  Mr.  Wm.  Foulis,  M.I.C.E. 

3.  "On  a  Method  of  Lighting  and  Extinguishing  Street  Lamps 
by  Electricity."  By  Mr.  Mortimer  Evan's,  C.E.,  M.S.T.E.  (From 
the  Physical  Section.) '      ■   •■  •  ■  •>    •     " 

These  gentlemen  received  the  thanks  of  the  Society  for  their 
papers.  ~         ■  •      •  *      ••■■••      »  •       >     .  . 

Mr.  James  R.  Napier  gave  notice  of  the  following  motions  to  be 
made  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Society : —     *  ■  •  ■     *  r 

1.  That  to  Rule  IV.  of  the  Constitution  the  following  words  be 
added — "Members  who  have  paid  their  Annual' Subscriptions  for 
twenty  years  shall  be  free  from  further  annual  payments." 

2.  That  in  Rule  IV.,  lines  6  and  7,  the  words  ."  One  Guinea' 
between  the  words  "pay"  and.?' as'.9  be. omitted,  and  the  words 
"  Three  Guineas"  substituted;  and  that  in  line  7  the  words  "  One 


222  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Guinea"  between  the  words  "and"  and  "in"  be  omitted,  and  the 
words  "  Two  Guineas  "  substituted. 

3.  That  in  Rule  XL,  the  Clause,  "  And  shall  receive  such  salary 
as  the  Council  may  determine"  be  omitted,  and  the  following  one 
added  to  the  Rule—"  There  shall  be  an  Assistant-Secretary,  whose 
salary  and  duties  shall  be  determined  by  the  Council,  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  Society." 

4.  That  in  Rule  XIL,  between  lines  8  and  9,  the  figure  and 
words — "  4.  Notices  of  Motions  to  be  read  and  given  to  the 
Secretary,"  be  inserted,  and  that  the  figures  "4,  5,  and  6,"  be 
changed  to  "  5,  6,  and  7." 


March  20,  1878.— Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 

Mr.  John  Kerr,  M.A.,  73  Grant  Street. 

The  first  part  of  a  paper  on  "  Physical  Life  "  was  read  by  Dr. 
Andrew  Buchanan.  The  thanks  of  the  Society  were  awarded  to 
Dr.  Buchanan,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  reading  of  the  second 
part  of  his  paper,  and  a  Discussion  upon  the  whole  of  it,  should 
form  the  business  of  a  special  meeting  of  the  Biological  Section,  to 
be  held  on  Wednesday,  the  27th  instant. 

In  terms  of  the  notice  given  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Society, 
Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier  moved  as  follows : — 

"  That  to  Rule  IV.  of  the  Constitution  the  following  words  be 
added — Members  who  have  paid  their  annual  subscriptions  for 
twenty  years  shall  be  free  from  further  annual  payments." 

Mr.  John  Mayer  seconded  the  motion. 

Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith  moved,  as  an  amendment,  "  That  the  con- 
sideration of  the  alterations  in  the  rules  of  the  Society,  proposed  in 
Mr.  Napier's  motions,  be  referred  to  the  Council." 

This  amendment  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Thomas  Muir. 

Dr.  William  Wallace  moved  the  previous  question,  which  was 
seconded  by  Mr.  Archibald  Robertson. 

Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith  withdrew  his  amendment  in  favour  of  that 
proposed  by  Dr.  Wallace,  and  the  Society  voted  as  follows: — For 
Dr.  Wallace's  amendment,  45;  for  Mr.  Napier's  motion,  3. 

Mr.  Napier  then  withdrew  the  remaining  three  motions  of  which 
he  had  given  notice. 


Minutes  of  Session.  223 

Dr.  A.  K.  Irvine  gave  notice  of  the  following  motions  for  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Society: — 

"  That  the  Society  appoint  a  special  committee  for  the  following 
purposes:— 

"  1.  To  inquire  into  the  practice  of  the  Society  regarding  the 
reception,  reading,  and  printing  of  papers. 

"  2.  To  inquire  into  the  functions  of  the  Committee  on  Papers, 
and  the  manner  in  which  these  have  recently  been  discharged." 

Also,  "  That  the  Secretary  be  instructed  to  submit,  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  special  committee,  the  minutes  and  correspondence 
relating  to  papers  connected  with  the  present  Session." 

Mr.  J.  Cleland  Burns  gave  notice  of  the  following  motion  for  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Society : — 

"  That  a  committee  of  the  Philosophical  Society  be  appointed  to 
take  measures  towards  the  Amendment  of  the  Health  of  Scotland 
Act,  1867." 

Mr.  James  It.  Napier  gave  notice  of  the  following  motion  for  next 
meeting  of  the  Society: — 

"  That  the  rules  of  debate  of  the  House  of  Commons,  where 
applicable,  be  the  rules  of  debate  of  the  Society." 


April  3,  1878. — Dr.  Fergus,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Society,  viz. : — 

Mr.  William  Shaw,  9  Great  Western  Terrace. 

A  paper  "  On  the  Necessity  of  a  General  Measure  of  Legislation 
for  Scotland  with  regard  to  Public  Health,"  was  read  by  W.  C. 
Spens,  Esq.,  Advocate,  Sheriff-Substitute  of  Lanarkshire. 

The  thanks  of  the  Society  were  awarded  to  Mr.  Spens  for  his 
paper. 

On  the  motion  of  Mr.  John  Mayer,  the  standing  orders  were 
suspended,  in  order  to  admit  of  the  Society's  dealing  with  the 
Patent  Laws. 

The  draft  of  a  Petition  in  favour  of  a  Bill  now  before  Parliament 
for  the  Amendment  of  the  Patent  Laws,  was  brought  before  the 
meeting  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  gentlemen  who  acted  last 
Session  as  a  Committee  on  Patents,  appointed  by  the  Society  on 
Jan.  10, 1677.  It  was  moved  by  Mr.  Thomas  Muir,  seconded  by 
Mr.  James  Robertson,  and  unanimously  agreed  to,  that  the  Preai- 


224  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgotc, 

dent  and  Secretary  be  instructed  to  sign  the  said  Petition  in  name 
of  the  Society,  and  have  it  forwarded  to  the  proper  quarter. 
The  Petition  ran  as  follows  : — 

Unto  the  Honourable  the  Knights,  Citizens,  and  Burgesses 
of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land in  Parliament  assembled.  The  Humble  Petition 
of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow, 

Sheweth, 

That  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow,  consisting  of 
upwards  of  700  Members,  being  persons  engaged  in  the  Arts, 
Manufactures,  Trades,  and  Commerce  of  the  City  of  Glasgow  and 
West  of  Scotland,  have  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  proposed 
legislation  on  the  subject  of  Letters  Patent  for  Inventions,  and 
have,  both  at  special  meetings  of  the  Society  and  through  a  special 
committee  appointed  to  deal  with  the  subject,  given  much  consider- 
ation to  the  measures  for  amending  the  Law  of  Patents  for  Inven- 
tions brought  before  Parliament  in  previous  Sessions,  and  to  the 
various  proposals  and  suggestions  regarding  such  patents  which 
have  come  before  them  from  other  sources. 

That  the  Society  have  had  under  their  consideration  a  Bill  at 
present  before  your  Honourable  House,  entituled  "  A  Bill  for  the 
Amendment  of  the  Patent  Laws.'1 

That  the  provisions  proposed  to  be  enacted  by  the  said  Bill  are 
provisions  such  as  the  Society  have  approved  of  by  a  series  of 
resolutions  extending  over  many  years,  and  in  support  of  which 
they  have  on  several  occasions  petitioned  your  Honourable  House ; 
and  the  Society  do  now  accordingly  beg  leave  humbly  to  express 
their  unanimous  and  cordial  approval  of  the  said  Bill. 

May  it  therefore  please  your  Honourable  House  to  pass  the  said 
Bill  into  Law  during  this  Session  of  Parliament. 


■o 


And  your  Petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray. 

■■  :  .      .        »  ■•  •      ■        ' 

At  this  stage  the  Chair  was  vacated  by  the  President  and 
occupied  by  Dr.  Wallace. 

J  In  terms  of  the  notice  given  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Society, 
Dr.'A.K.  Irvine  moved  as  follows  : — 

;  "  That  the  Society  appoint  a  special  committee  for  the  following 
purposes : — 

\"l.rTo  inquire  into  the  practice  of  the  Society  regarding  the 
reception  j  reading,  and  printing  of  papers. 


Minutes  of  Session.  2i:5 


a 


2.  To  inquire  into  the  functions  of  the  Committee  on  Peepers, 
and  the  manner  in  which  these  have  recently  been  discharged." 

Also,  "  That  the  Secretary  be  instructed  to  submit,  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  special  committee,  the  minutes  and  correspondence 
relating  to  papers  connected  with  the  present  Session." 

Dr.  Robert  Bell  seconded  the  motion. 

The  Secretary  and  other  members  having  spoken  with  reference 
to  the  circumstances  upon  which  Dr.  Irvine  based  his  motion,  it 
was  withdrawn. 

Mr.  J.  Cleland  Burns  moved : — "  That  the  Sanitary  Section  of 
this  Society  be  authorised  to  take  measures  towards  the  Amend- 
ment of  the  Health  of  Scotland  Act,  1867." 

Mr.  Thomas  Muir  seconded  the  motion. 


April  17,  1878.— Dr.  Wi.  Wallace  vn  the  Chair. 

The  minutes  of  last  meeting  having  been  read,  Mr.  John  Mayer 
drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  did  not  bear  that  the  Chair  was 
vacated  in  the  course  of  the  meeting  by  the  President,  and  that  it 
was  subsequently  occupied  by  Dr.  Wm.  Wallace;  also,  that  he  had 
moved  the  suspension  of  the  Standing  Orders,  so  as  to  admit  of  the 
Society's  dealing  with  the  Petition  on  the  Patent  Laws.  He  moved 
that  the  minutes  be  corrected  accordingly. 

Mr.  A.  Robertson  seconded  the  motion,  and  it  was  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Hunt  moved  that  the  minutes  be  amended  in  respect  of  the 
following  statement  therein  made  regarding  the  withdrawal  of  Dr. 
Irvine's  motion:— 

"  The  Secretary  and  other  members  having  spoken  with  reference 
to  the  circumstances  upon  which  Dr.  Irvine  based  his  motion,  it  was 
withdrawn;"  and  that  the  following  sentence  be  substituted  for  that 
in  the  minutes : — 

"  The  Secretary  and  other  members  spoke  with  reference  to  the 
occurrences  which  had  given  rise  to  the  motions,  and  a  hope  was 
expressed  that  such  occurrences  would  not  be  repeated,  after  which 
Dr.  Irvine  withdrew  the  motion  in  compliance  with  the  general 
wish  of  the  meeting." 

Dr.  A.  K.  Irvine  seconded  the  motion. 

Some  discussion  having  arisen  regarding  the  relevancy  of  some  of 
Dr.  Irvine's  remarks  upon  the  Chairman's  action  as  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Papers,  Dr.  Wallace  temporarily  vacated  the  Chair 
in  favour  of  Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan,  upon  the  suggest**  of  Dr. 

Vol.  XI. -No.  1.  Q 


226  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow, 

Morton.  It  was  ultimately  arranged,  upon  the  motion  of  Mr.  Dron, 
that  the  Society,  while  leaving  to  Dr.  Irvine  freedom  to  bring 
forward  on  another  occasion  any  question  or  complaint  he  may  have 
to  make  regarding  Dr.  Wallace's  conduct,  should  regard  Mr.  Hunt's 
motion  simply  as  an  amendment  of  the  minutes. 

Dr.  Wallace  then  moved,  as  an  amendment  upon  the  motion, 
that  the  minutes  be  approved  of.  Mr.  W.  B.  W.  Smith  seconded 
the  amendment,  which  was  carried  by  a  large  majority. 

Upon  the  motion  of  Mr.  Q.  Pringle,  Dr.  Wallace  re-occupied  the 
Chair. 

The  following  papers  were  then  read: — 

1.  "  On  the  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors  and  their  Influence 
upon  Digestion  and  Nutrition."  By  Mr.  J.  J.  Coleman,  F.C.S., 
Fellow  of  the  Institute  of  Chemistry. 

2.  "  Experiments  on  the  Relative  Specific  Gravities  of  Solid  and 
Melted  Metals  at  the  Temperature  of  Fusion."  By  Joseph  Whitley, 
Esq.     Communicated  by  Dr.  Henry  Muirhead. 

The  thanks  of  the  Society  were  awarded  to  the  respective  authors 
of  the  papers. 

Mr.  John  Mann  then  gave  notice  of  the  following  motion,  in 
name  of  the  Council,  to  be  brought  before  the  Society  at  the  next 
meeting : — 

"(1.)  That  the  Society  be  registered  under  the  Companies  Acts, 
1862,  1867,  and  1877,  as  a  company  limited  by  guarantee. 

"  (2.)  That  each  member  undertakes  to  contribute  to  the  Assets 
of  the  company  in  the  event  of  the  same  being  wound  up  during 
the  time  that  he  is  a  member,  or  within  one  year  afterwards,  for 
payment  of  the  debts  and  liabilities  of  the  company  contracted 
before  the  time  at  which  he  ceased  to  be  a  member,  and  of  the  costs, 
charges,  and  expenses  of  winding  up  the  company,  and  for  the 
adjustment  of  the  rights  of  the  contributories  amongst  themselves 
such  amount  as  may  be  required,  not  exceeding  five  shillings.    And, 

"  (3.)  That  the  Council  be,  and  are  hereby,  authorised  to  take  the 
necessary  steps  to  have  these  resolutions  carried  into  effect,  and  to 
expend  the  funds  that  may  be  required  for  so  doing." 

The  following  Reports  on  the  proceedings  of  the  Sections  during 
the  Session  were  given  by  their  respective  Secretaries : — 

Architectural  Section. 

The  past  Session  of  the  Architectural  Section  of  the  Philosophical 
Society  has  been  one  of  fair  activity. 


Minutes  of  Session.  227 

Among  the  subjects  under  consideration  wero  some  of  great 
practical  importance,  and  the  full  discussion  which  they  underwent 
is  certain  to  have  an  influence  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Architectural  Section. 

The  Session  began  28th  November,  1877,  when  a  new  heating 
apparatus,  devised  by  Mr.  Tait,  was  exhibited  and  explained  by 
him,  and  Mr.  Honeyman,  F.R.I.B.A.,  contributed  some  valuable 
experiences  as  to  whinstone  wall  building.  The  subsequent  papers 
were — "  Egyptian  Architecture,"  by  Mr.  A.  L.  Miller ;  "  Concrete, 
and  how  to  Use  it/1  by  Mr.  John  Macdonald ;  "  Drainage,  Sewage, 
Sunk  Flats,  and  Dry  Hot,"  by  Mr.  James  Thomson,  LL.D., 
Professor  of  Civil  Engineering  in  Glasgow  University;  "Sym- 
bolism," by  Mr.  Andrew  Wells';  "  Truth  in  Decoration,"  by  Mr. 
S.  Adam ;  Arrangements  necessary  for  Art  Exhibition  Halls,  by 
Mr.  John  Mossman,  Vice-President ;  "A  New  Method  of  Hanging 
Window  Sashes,"  by  Mr.  Neil  Mackay.  The  thanks  of  the 
Section  are  due  to  all  these  gentlemen;  but  in  an  especial  degree 
to  Professor  Thomson  and  Mr.  John  Macdonald. 

In  the  course  of  the  Session  the  accounts  from  18th  March,  1872, 
till  15th  October,  1877,  were  submitted  by  the  Treasurer,  and 
showed  the  funds  to  be  in  a  satisfactory  condition. 

The  proportional  two-thirds  of  all  Associates'  subscriptions 
received  was  ordered  to  be  paid  to  the  Philosophical  Society,  and 
the  payment  of  Library  fire  insurance  premium,  which  had  until 
now  been  met  by  him  was  to  be  discontinued,  so  as  to  allow  of  the 
Philosophical  Society,  who  were  now  responsible  for  the  safe 
custody  of  the  books,  to  take  it  up. 

The  Council  are  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  names  of  eight 
prospectively  useful  Associates  have  been  added  to  the  Roll.  A 
communication  from  the  Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects,  asking 
the  Architectural  Society  to  send  delegates  to  the  ensuing  biennial 
conference,  was  entertained  by  the  Council,  who  have  appointed 
Mr.  A.  L.  Miller,  Mr.  S.  Adam,  and  Mr.  D.  M'Naughton  as  their 
representatives  at  the  ensuing  meeting. 

Biological  Section. 

The  Office-bearers'*,  of  the  Biological  Section  are  the  same  this 
year  as  last  year.  During  the  Session  papers  from  the  Section 
have  been  read  before  the  Philosophical  Society  by  Mr.  James 
Thomson,  F.G.S.,  Dr.  Stirton,  Dr.  John  Dougall,  and  Dr.  Andrew 
Buchanan. — D.  C.  M'Vail,  Secretory. 


328  PhiloaopJUcal  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Chemical  Section. 

In  consequence  of  the  lateness  of  commencing  the  ordinary 

meetings  of  the  Society,  the  first  meeting  of  the  Chemical  Section 

for  the  past  Session  was  a  fortnight  later  than  usual,  and  was  not 

Jbeld  till  the  26th  November,  1677.     On  that  occasion  the  President 

#f  tike  Section,    Professor   Ferguson,   delivered   a   short    opening 

address,  and  Mr.  Mactear  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Regeneration  of 

the  Sulphur  employed  in  the  Alkali  Manufacture,  as  conducted  at 

SU  Bollox  by  the  Mactear  Process."     At  the  next  meeting,  which 

was  the  annual  business  meeting,  Mr.  Mactear  read  another  paper, 

the  subject  being  "An  Improved  System  of  Alkali  Manufacture." 

On  the  occasion  of  the  first  meeting  held  after  the  Christmas  recess 

(14th  January),  the  Secretary  read  a  paper  on  "  Hy slop's  Improved 

Process  of  Regenerating  the  Lime  used  in  the  Purification  of  Coal 

G*s,*8  carried  out  at  the  Corporation  Gas  Works,  Paisley,  and 

Gnesock."    This  meeting  was  attended   by  a    number    of   gas 

managers  from  various  parts  of  the  country,  most  of  whom  took 

pert  in  the  discussion  to  which  the  paper  gave  rise.     At  the  same 

meeting  Dr.  William  Ramsay,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.   James 

Dobbie,  M.A.,  Clarke  Scholar  in  Science  of  the  University  of 

Glasgow,,  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Action  of  various  Agents  on 

Quinine,"    The  next  paper  was  on  "  The  Utilisation  of  Ammoniacal 

Liquors/*  by  Mr.  Gavin  Chapman.     At  subsequent  meetings  of  the 

Section  papers  were  read  by  the  President  on  "  Chemical  Symbols 

«nd  Structural  Formulae,"   Parts  I.  and  II. ;  by  Mr.  Mactear,  on 

"  Some  of  tho  Operations  involved  in  carrying  out  the  Provisions 

irf  the  Alkali  Acts,  1863  and  1874;"  by  Professor   Dittmar,  on 

m  Laboratory  Notes ;"  and  by  Dr.  Wallace,  on  "  The  Destruction  of 

ttaGpltaurof  Cotton  Goods  by  the  Sulphur  in  the  Gas  burned  in 

jfPtfjjpf  Warehouses."    A  paper  from  the  Chemical  Section,   by 

Mr.  JL  «F.  Coleman,  on  "  The  Constitution  of  Malt  Liquors,  and 

ftejr  Influence  upon  Digestion  and  Nutrition,"  was  read  at  an 

ordinary  meeting  of  the  Society,  on  account  of  the  very  general 

interest  with  which  the  subject  treated  of  was  invested. 

During  the  Session  the  Council  devoted  their  most  anxious 
attention  to  the  question  of  the  proposed  "Graham  Medal  and 
KrftcUm*  Fund."  Through  the  active  exertions,  more  especially,  of 
Mr,  flolenan  and  Mr.  Tatlock,  the  fund  has  now  been  raised  to 
afoot  £X0,  and  the  Council  have  satisfaction  in  stating  that  the 
wtfttrre  hm&  been  so  comprehensively  devised  that  they  have  every 
confidence  in  expecting  a  sufficiently  large  sum  of  money  to  be 


Minutes  of  Session.  229 

subscribed  as  to  ensure  the  success  of  the  objects  aimed  at.  The 
subject  has  been  officially  brought  under  the  notice  of  the  Section 
and  Council  of  the  Society,  and  has  received  their  heartiest 
approval,  and  the  members  generally  will  doubtless  soon  have  an 
opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  scheme  in  all  its 
leading  details. — John  Mayer,  Secretary. 

Sanitary  and  Social  Economy  Section. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Sanitary  and  Social  Economy  Section,  held 
at  the  opening  of  the  Session,  1877-78,  the  following  Office-bearers 
were  elected : — 

President-^ Dr.  J.  B.  Russell. 

Vice-Presidents — Mr.  John  Ure,  Mr.  KC.C.  Stanford. 

Other  Members  of  Council — Mr.  Kenneth  Macleod,  Dr.  Amicwm 
Fergus,  Dr.  John  Dougall,  Dr.  Robert  Renfrew,  Mr.  S.  8chuma% 
Mr.  P.  W.  Dixon,  Mr.  Nathaniel  Dunlop,  Mr.  W.  P.  BuoKan,  Mr. 
H.  K.  Bromhead,  Mr.  Alexander  Scott,  Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Softly  the. 
Gavin  Chapman. 

Secretary — Dr.  James  Christie. 

It  was  also  agreed,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of 
the  Council,  that  the  papers  in  future,  so  far  as  it  may  be  found 
convenient,  be  read  before  the  general  meetings  of  the  Society. 

On  the  19th  December,  the  President  delivered  the  inaugural 
address  of  the  Section  on  "  The  Comparative  Prevalence  of  Filth 
Diseases  in  Town  and  Country."  A  paper  from  the  Section  wan 
read  before  a  general  meeting  of  the  Society  by  W.  C.  SpensvEsq,, 
Advocate,  Sheriff-Substitute  of  Lanarkshire,  on  "  The  Necessity  of 
a  General  Measure  of  Legislation  for  Scotland  with  regard  to  Publie 
Health,"  and  a  paper  on  "  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Laws,"  by  Mr. 
Andrew  Wallace,  Inspector  of  Poor,  Govan.  Two  more  papers 
were  offered  to  the  Section,  one  by  Mr.  Bromhead,  and  another  By 
the  Secretary;  but  owing  to  the  time  for  reading  papers  before  the 
general  meetings  being  fully  occupied,  no  opportunity  occurred  for 
their  being  read. — James  Christie,  Secretary. 


230 


OFFICE-BEARERS 


or  THB 


PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  OP  GLASGOW. 


SS3SSI02ST    18r7-78. 


Dr.  Andrew  Fergus,  M.R.C.S.Eng.,  President 

Mr.  James  H.  Napier,  F.R.S.,  \ 

Dr.  Wm.  Wallace,  F.R.S.E.,  F.C.S.,  I  Vice-Presidents. 

Dr.  Andrew  Buchanan,  ) 

Dr.  Allen  Thomson,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  ^        „ 

Professor  Grant,  M.A.,  LL.D.,  F.RS.,  I      H™»™y 

Prop.  Sir  Wm.  Thomson,  LL.D.,D.C.L.,F.R.S.,  j  ™e-/,n»i<fcn6r. 

Mr.  John  Robertson,  Librarian. 
Mr.  John  Mann,  C.A.,  Treasurer. 
Mr.  E.  M.  Dixon,  B.Sc,  Secretary. 

Mr.     Campbell     Douglas,    I.  A.,     Arc/iilectural] 

Section. 
Dr.  Eben.  Watson,  M.A.,  Biological  Section. 
Professor  Ferguson,  M.A.,  Chemical  Section. 
Mr.    James    R    Napier,    F.R.S.,    Physics    and 

Engineering  Section. 
Dr.  Jas.  B.  Russell,  B.A.,  Sanitary  and  Social 

Economy  Section. 

Other  Members  of  Council. 
Mr.  Edward  A.  Wunsch,F.G.S.  I  Mr.  Thos.  Muir,  M.A.,  F.R.S.E. 


Presidents  of 
Sections. 


Mb.  William  Dron. 
Mr.  James  Deas,  MTnst.CE. 
Mr.  Archibald  Robertson. 
profe8sor  gairdner,  m.d. 
Mr.  James  MacTear,  F.C.S. 


Mr.  James  Thomson,  F.G.S. 
Dr.  Henry  Muirhead. 
Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith. 
Prof.    John    G.    M'Kendrick, 
M.D.,  F.R.S.E. 


Mr.  John  Honeyman,  F.R.LB.A. 


231 


COMMITTEES  APPOINTED  BY  THE   COUNCIL 


COMMITTEE    ON   FINANCE, 

Dr.  A.  Fergus,  President. 

Dr.  W.  Wallace,  Vice-President. 


Mr.  A.  Robertson. 
Mr.  Jas.  Deas. 


Mr.  W.  Dron. 
Mr.  E.  A.  Wunsch. 


Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith,  Sub-Convener. 
Mr.  John  Mann,  Treasurer,  Convener. 


COMMITTEE  ON  PAPERS. 

Dr.  A.  Fergus,  President. 

Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier,  Vice-President 


Professor  Ferguson. 
Dr.  J.  B.  Russell. 
Dr.  W.  "Wallace. 
Mr.  Jas.  Deas. 


Mr.  Thomas  Muir. 
Mr.  Campbell  Douglas. 
Dr.  Eben.  Watson. 
Dr.  Gairdner. 


Dr.  M'Kendrick. 
Mr.  E.  M.  Dixon,  Convener. 


COMMITTEE  ON  THE  LIBRARY. 

Dr.  Andrew  Fergus,  President. 

Dr.  A.  Buchanan,  Vice-President. 
Dr.  H.  Muirhead.  Dr.  J.  B.  Russell. 

Professor  Ferguson. 
Mr.  E.  A.  Wunsch. 
Mr.  Jas.  R.  Napier. 


Mr.  Thos.  Muir. 

Mr.  Campbell  Douglas. 

Mr.  Jas.  Thomson,  F.G.S. 


Mr.  Jas.  Mactear. 
Mr.  Joiin  Robertson,  Librarian,  Convener. 


COMMITTEE  ON  ACCOMMODATION. 


Mr.  Jas.  Deas. 

Mr.  John  Honeyman. 

Mr.  A.  Robertson. 


Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith. 

Mr.  W.  Dron, 

Mr.  Campbell  Douglas. 


Dr.  W.  Wallace,  Convener. 


232 


OFFICE-BEARERS  OF  SECTIONS. 


ARCHITECTURAL    SECTION. 

Campbell  Douglas,  Esq.,  LA.,  President. 

Mr.  James  Thomson,  I.A.,        )  VicerPrtM&a8 
Ma.  John  Mossman,  Sculptor,  / 

Mr.  James  Howat,  Hon.  Treasurer. 
Mr.  Matthew  Forsyth,  LA.,  Hon.  Secretary. 


Other  Members  of  Council. 


Mr.  James  Sellars,  Jr.,  LA. 
Mr.  John  Cowan. 
Mr.  A.  Lindsay  Millar. 
Mr.  A.  Wells. 


Mr.  S.  Adams. 
Mr.  D.  Thomson,  LA. 
Mr.  S.  Honetman,  LA. 
Mr.  H.  Barclay,  LA. 


BIOLOGICAL  SECTION. 


Dr.  Eben.  Watson,  M.A.,  President. 
Dr.  James  Stirton,  F.L.S.,     \ 
Mr.  James  Thomson,  F.G.S.    V  Vice-Presidents. 
Mr.  John  Robertson,  ' 


Other  Members  of  Council. 


Dr.  Neil  Carmighabl. 

Dr.  Joseph  Goats. 

Dr.  John  Douoall, 

Dr.  A.  K.  Irvine. 

Mr.  D.  N.  Knox,  A.M.,  M.B. 

Mr.  David  Robertson,  F.G.S. 


Mr.  Thomas  Chapman. 
Mr.  H.  E.  Clarke,  M.R.O.& 
Dr.  James  Finlayson. 
Mr.  John  Kirsop. 
Mr.  Archibald  Robertson. 
Dr.  Henry  Muirhead. 


Mr.  D.  C  M'Vail,  M.B.,  Secretary. 


SANITABY  AND  SOCIAL  ECONOMY  SECTION. 


Dr.  Russell, 
Mr.  John  XJre, 
Mr.  EL  C.  C.  Stanford, 


\vice. 


Presidents. 


Office-Bearers  of  the  Society. 


233 


Other  Members  of  Council. 


Mb.  K.  Macleod. 
Dr.  Fergus. 
Dr.  Dougall. 
Dr.  Renfrew. 
Mr.  Schuman. 
Mr.  P.  W.  Dixon. 


Mr.  Nathaniel  Dunlop. 
Mr.  W.  P.  Buchan. 
Mr.  Bromheao. 
Mr.  Alexander  Scott. 
Mr.  W.  R.  W.  Smith. 
Mr.  Chapman. 


Dr.  Christie,  Secretary. 


ADDITIONS   TO   THE   LIBRARY. 


Donations.  Presented  by 

On  the  Controlling  of  the  Escapes  of  Sul- 
phur Oases  in  the  Manufacture  of  Sul- 
phuric Acid.    By  Mr.  Jas.  Mactear,    .    Jos.  Mactear. 

A  new  Mechanical  Furnace  used  in  the 
Alkali  Manufacture.  By  Mr.  Jas. 
Mactearv       ...•■•  ,, 

On  the  Regeneration  of  Sulphur  employed 
in  the  Alkali  Manufacture.  By  Mr. 
Jas.  Mactear, ,, 

On  Improved  System  of  Alkali  Manu- 
facture.   By  Mr.  Jas.  Mactear,  ,, 

Report  on  the  Air  of  Glasgow,  with  Tables 
of  Wind,  Temperature,  and  Rainfall  for 
the  months  of  May,  June,  and  August,    Town  Council  of 
1877.    By  Mr.  E.  M.  Dixon,  B.Sc,     .        Glasgow. 

Contributions  to  Meteorology,  .    Elias  Loomis. 

On  the  Expansion  of  Sea- Water  by  Heat. 
By  T.  EL  Thorpe,  Ph.D.,  and  A.  W. 
Riicker,  M.A.  Communicated  by  W. 
B.  Carpenter,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S., 
4to.    Jan.  6,  1876,       .        .        .        .    T.  E.  Thorpe. 

Transactions  of  the  Cambridge  Philo- 
sophical Society,  Society. 

Proceedings  of  the  Cambridge  Philo- 
sophical Socictyf M 

Canadian  Journal  of  Science,  Literature, 
and  History, ,, 

Transactions  of  the  Literary  and  Historical 
Society  of  Quebec,        ....  ,, 

Proceedings  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society, „ 

Glasgow  University  Calendar  for  tho  Year 
1877-78.    12mo College. 

Typhoid  Fever :  its  Cause  and  Prevention, 
Illustrated  by  the  Recent  Epidemics  in 
Crosshill  and  Eaglesham.  By  Dr. 
Eben.  Duncan, Dr.  E.  Duncan. 

On  Eisenstein's  Continued  Fractions.  By 
Thos.  Muir,  M.A.,         .        .  .    Thos.  Muir. 


1  Pamphlet. 


tt 


1 

M 

1 

M 

3 

?» 

1 

♦  t 

•  t 


3  Parts. 


»» 


1       n 
1        * 

1  Vol.,  and 
1  Pamphlet 

lVoL 


1  Pamphlet. 


1 


#♦ 


Additions  to  the  Library. 


235 


Presented  by 


Thos.  Mnir. 


Dr.  J.  B.  RusselL 


W.  J.  Millar. 


tt 


P.  Smith. 

Lord  Lindsay. 
J.  Cleland  Barns. 


Donations. 
On  a  Class  of  Integers  expressible  as  the 

sum  of  Two  Integral  Squares, 

Beport  on  the  Outbreak  of  Enteric  Fever 

in  West  End  of  Glasgow  and  Hillhead. 

By  Dr.  J.  B.  Russell,   .... 

On  Propulsion  of  Vessels.    By  Mr.  W.  J. 

Millar, 

Studies  in  Physical  Science.    By  Mr.  W. 

J.Millar, 

Astronomical  Observations  made  at  the 
Royal  Observatory,  Edinburgh.    Vol. 
XIV.,  for  1870-1877.  By  Piazzi  Smith, 
F.R.S.E,  F.R.S.,  F.R.S.S.A.,      • 
Dun    Echt    Observatory    Publications. 
Vol.  II.,  Mauritius  Expedition,  1874,    . 
History  of  the  High  School  of  Glasgow,    . 
Transactions  of  the  National  Association 
for  the  Promotion  of  Social  Science. 
8vo.    Glasgow,  1876,  Aberdeen,  1877,    Association. 
Transactions  of  the  Glasgow  Archaeological 

Society.    8vo, Society. 

Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Engineers.  8vo, 
Proceedings  of  the  American  Academy  of 

Arts  and  Sciences,  1877, 
Proceedings  of  the  American  Philosophical 

Society,  1876, 

Verhandelingen  der  Eoninklijke  Akademie 
van  Wetenschappen,     .... 
Verslagen  en  Mededeelingen  der  Konink- 
lijke    Akademie   van   Wetenschappen 
Afdeeling  Letterkunde, 
Jaarbock  van  de  Koninklijke  Akademie 
van  Wetenschappen,     .... 
Report  by  the  Deputation  appointed  by 
the  Town  Council  and  Board  of  Police 
of  Glasgow,  to  inquire  into  the  Methods 
of  disposing  of  Sewage  adopted  in  various    Town  Council  of 
Towns  in  England.    Glasgow,  1878. 
Proceedings  of  the  Literary  and  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Liverpool, 
Calendar  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 

Great  Britain  for  1878, 

The  Naturalists'  Journal  of  the  Yorkshire 

Naturalists'   Union  and  General  Field 

Club, C.  P.  Hobkirk, 

Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain,  .        .     Institution. 
Transactions  of  the  Geological  Society  of 
Glasgow, Society. 


»» 


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Academy. 


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Glasgow. 
Society. 
E.  Bremridge. 


1  Pamphlet. 


1 


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1  Vol. 


1    » 

i    .. 
1    ,. 


1  Vol. 
I  Part. 
IVoL 


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2  Parte. 


1  Vol 
1    •• 


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2    •. 

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I  Vol. 

4  Parts. 

I    „ 

IVoL 
12  Parts. 

*    „ 

12    „ 

6    „ 

12    „ 

4    „ 
2  Vols. 

236  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Donations.  Presented  try 

Minutes  of  Proceedings  of  the  Institution 

of  Civil  Engineers,        ....    Institution. 
Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 

Archaeology, Society. 

Royal   Polytechnic    Society,   Forty-fifth 

Annual  Report, „ 

Bulletin  Mensuel   de   rObservatoire   de 

Montsouris,  1877,  .    M.  H.  Marie  Davy. 

Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,    .  Institute. 

Proceedings  of  the  South  Wales  Institute 

of  Engineers, „ 

Transactions  of  the  Odontological  Society 

of  Great  Britain,  .....    Society. 
Journal  of  the  Photographic  Society, 
Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society, 
Journal  of  the  Statistical  Society,    . 

British  Medical  Journal,  .Dr.  J.  P.  Cassels. 

Proceedings  of  the  Bath  Natural  History 

and  Antiquarian  Field  Club,         .        .    Society.  I  Part 

Forty-fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Royal 

Cornwall     Polytechnic.      8vo.       Fal- 
mouth, 1876, „  2    „ 

Records  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India,  5    „ 

Memoirs   of  the  Geological    Survey  of 

India, 4 

Pataontologia  Indica,       ....  3 

Minutes  of  Proceedings  of  the  Institution 

of  Civil  Engineers.    Vols.  XLVIIL  and 

XLIX-, Institution.  ZVofe. 

Transactions  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,    Academy.  7  Parts. 
Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  .          ,,  4    „ 
Astronomical  and  Meteorological  Observa- 
tions for  1873  and  1874.    4to.     Wash- 
ington, 1877, U.S.  Observatory.         3  Vols. 

Academy    of    Natural     Science.      8vo. 

Philadelphia,  1876 Society.  1  VeL 

Canadian  Journal    8vo.    Toronto,  1877,      Institute.  2  Parts; 

A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Diseases  of 

the  Eye.    By  Haynes  Walton,  F.R.C.S. 

8vo.    London,  1875 H.  Walton.  1  VoL 

Journal  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 

1876, Society.  1    „ 

Transactions,    Newcastle  -  upon  •  Tyne 

Chemical  Society,  „  1  Part 

Narrative  of  the  North  Polar  Expedition, 

U.S.  Ship  "  Polaris,1'  Captain  Charles 

Francis  Hall  commanding.    Washing-    U.S.  Naval 

ton,  1876, Observatory.  1  VoL 


»• 


Additions  to  the  Library.  237 

Donations.  Presented  by 

Proceedings  of  the  Mechanical  Engineers 

for  May,  1377, Institution.  1  Part, 

Proceedings  of  the  Berwickshire  Natura- 
lists' Club, Society.  1    „ 

Royal     Observatory,     Brnxellcs.      4to. 

Braxelles, M.  Quetelek  7  Vols. 

Proceedings  of  the  Liverpool  Geological 

Society, Society.  1  Part 

Report  on  the  Orations  of  the  Sanitary 

Department  for  the  Four  Years  ending 

30th  April,  1877.   8vo.  Glasgow,  1877,    K.  M.  Macleod.  1  Vol. 

Account  of  the  Proceedings  at  the  Inspec- 
tion of  the  New  Hospital  for  the  Treat- 
ment of  Infectious  Diseases,  1S77,         •  „  I  Pamphlet. 
Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute 

of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.    Part  II. 

ofVoLVIL, Institute.  1  Part. 

Journal  of  the  Statistical  Society,     .        .    Society.  4    M 

Transactions  of  the  Historic  Society  of 

Lancashire  and  Cheshire,  „  1    „ 

Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society,  „  1     „ 

Mittheilungen  des  Vereins  Fur  Erdkunde 

zu  Hallo  a/s.,  1877,       ....    Dr.  Lehman.  I    M 

Die  Naturgesetze  und  ihr  zusammenhung 

mit  den  Prinzipien  der  Abstrakten  Wis- 

senschaften.      Von   Dr.   H.   Schenier. 

Leipzig,  1877 Dr.  H.  Seheffler.  2  Vols. 

Transactions  of  the  Institution  of  Engineers 

and  Shipbuilders  in  Scotland  for  1876- 

77.    8vo, Institution.  2    M 

List  of  Elevations.    That  portion  of  the 

United  States  West  of  the  Mississippi 

River.    Fourth  Edition,  1877,      .        .    H.  V.  Hayden.  1    „ 

Report  of  the  United  States  Geological 

Survey  of  the  Territories,     ...  m  I A  4  Parts. 

Zoology  and  Botany,  ...  M  1    u 

Fossil  Vertebrates.    4to.    Wash- 
ington, 1872,  ....  „  i    M 
Proceedings   of  the   Boston   Society   of 

Natural  History, Society.  2  Parka. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Regents 

of  the   Smithsonian  Institution.    8va 

Washington,  1876  and  1877,  .        .    Institution.  IVala. 

Notes  on  the  Colony  of  Victoria,  Historical 

and  Geographical,         .  H.  H.  Hajtet  ft    m 

Meteorological  and  Statistical, 
(Victorian  Year  Book).  8vo. 
Melbourne,  1876  and  1877,  m  1    •» 


238  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Donations.  Presented  by 

Statistical    Register  of  the   Colony   of 

Victoria, H.  H.  Hayter. 

Verslagen  en  Mededeelingen  der  Konink- 

lijke  Akademie   van   Wetenschappen. 

Vol  VL,  1877 Academy. 

Verhandelingen  der  Koninklijke  Akademie 

Tan  Wetenschappen,     ....  „ 

Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceuti- 
cal Association.  8vo.  Philadelphia,  1877,     Association. 
Bnffalo  Society  of  Natural  Sciences,  Society. 

Proceedings  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of 

Natural  Sciences,  „ 

Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,      Institute. 
Annuaire    de    l'Observatoire   Royal   de 

Bruxelles,  1876  and  1877,     .  .    L.  A.  J.  Quetelet 

Esssi  sur  la  Vie   et   les  Ouvrages   de 

L.  A.  J.   Quetelet.    Par  fid.  Mailly. 

Bruxelles,  1875, „ 

Annales    de    l'Observatoire    Royal     de 

Bruxelles.    Vols.  XXIII.,  XXIV.,  and 

XXV.    From  1874  to  1877, 
Memoire  sur  la  Temperature  de  l'Air  a 

Bruxelles,  1833-1872,  ....  „ 

Greenwich  Observations:    Astronomical, 

Magnetical,  and  Meteorological  Obser- 
vations,          Astronomer-Royal. 

Greenwich  Magnetical  and  Meteorological 

Results,  1875, 

Greenwich:  Results  of  Astronomical  Obser- 
vations made  at  the  Royal  Observatory, 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  during  the  year 

1874.      Edward   James    Stone,   M.A. 

Camb.,  P.R.S.,  F.R.A.S.,    •  ,, 

Greenwich:    Observations   made  at  the 

Royal  Observatory  in  the  year  1875,     .  „ 

Leeds  Philosophical  and  Literary  Society,    Society. 
The  Worth  of  life :  An  Address  delivered 

at  the  Opening  of  the  58th  Session  of 

the  Society, „ 

Proceedings  of  the  Bristol    Naturalists' 

Society, 

North  of  England  Institute  of  Mining  and 

Mechanical  Engineers,  „ 

Transactions    and    Proceedings    of    the 

Botanical  Society  of  Edinburgh,   .  „ 

Proceedings   of  the   Royal    Society    of 

Edinburgh, „ 

Transactions  of  the  Connecticut  Academy,         „ 


6  Parts. 

1  Vol. 

2  „ 

1    „ 
1  Part 

1  VoL 
iPart 

2  Vols. 

1    „ 

3  „ 

1  Pamphlet. 

IPart 
1    ., 


1     „ 

1    „ 
1  Vol. 

IPart 

4    „ 
1     ,. 


Exchanges  with  other  Societies.  239 

The  Philosophical  Society  Exchanges  with  the 

following  Societies: — 

Anthropological  Society, London. 

Academy  of  Science, Philadelphia. 

American  Philosophical  Society, „ 

An  Bureau  Scientifique  Central  Neerlandais,  .  Harlem. 

Astronomer-Royal, Melbourne. 

American  Institute, New  York. 

Academy  of  Science, Missouri 

American  Academy, Boston. 

Biblical  Archaeology, London, 

Botanical  Society  of  Edinburgh, Edinburgh. 

Boston  Natural  History  Society, Boston. 

Berwickshire  Naturalists'  Club, Alnwick. 

Bristol  Naturalists' Club, Bristol. 

Chemical  Society, London. 

Commissioners  of  Patents, Washington. 

Cleveland  Institution  of  Engineers,  ....  Middlesborough, 

Canadian  Institute, Canada. 

California  Academy, California. 

Die  Deutsche  Chemische  Gesellschaft,     ....  Berlin. 

Dublin  University  Biological  Association,  Dublin. 

E.  B.  Reed,  Barrister-at-law,  London,      ....  Ontario. 

Edinburgh  Geological  Society, Edinburgh. 

Franklin  Institute Philadelphia. 

Glasgow  Archaeological  Society, Glasgow. 

Geological  Society  of  Liverpool, Liverpool. 

Geological  Society  of  Glasgow, Glasgow. 

Geological  Survey  Office, Calcutta. 

Geological  Survey  of  Canada, Montreal 

Historic  Society  of  Lancashire  and  Cheshire,    .  Liverpool. 

Historic  Society, Quebec. 

Institution  of  Mechanical  Engineers,        ....  Birmingham. 

Institution  of  Engineers  and  Shipbuilders  in  Scotland,    .  Glasgow. 

Institution  of  Engineers, London. 

Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Liverpool,      .  Liverpool. 

,,  „  „  Manchester,  .        .  Manchester. 

,,  ,,  „  Leeds,   ...  l^eos. 

Lyceum  of  Natural  History, New  York. 

La  Socigte'  des  Sciences  Physique  et  Naturelles,  Bordeaux. 

Midland  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  ....  Barnsley. 

National  Academy, Washington. 

National  Observatory, » 

Natural  History  Society, Glasgow. 

New  Zealand  Institute, New  Zealand. 

New  York  Agricultural  Society New  York. 

North  of  England  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,     .        .  Newcastle-ou-Tyne. 


H 
-M 


1» 


M 


240  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Natural  History  Society, Portland,  Maine. 

Odontological  Society, London, 

Orleans  County  Society  of  Natural  Science*,    .  Vermont 

Publisher  of  Engineering, London. 

Pharmaceutical  Society, 

Photographic  Society, 

Pharmaceutical  Society, Philadelphia. 

Philosophical  Society  of  Cambridge,         ....  Cambridge. 

Powys  Land  Club, Liverpool 

Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects,      ....  T^fl^n 

Royal  Society  of  London, 

Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain,  .... 

Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh, Edinburgh. 

Royal  Physical  Society  of  Edinburgh,      .... 

Royal  Scottish  Society  of  Arts, 

Royal  Cornwall  Polytechnic  Society,        ....  Falmouth. 

Royal  Society  of  Victoria, Melbourne. 

Royal  Academy  of  Science, Berlin. 

Royal  Academy  of  Science, Brussels. 

Royal  Academy  of  Science, Sfrn?frhfllin 

Royal  Academy  of  Science, St  Louis. 

Royal  Academy, Amrt*Ham 

Royal  Academy  of  Sciences, „ 

Royal  Institute  of  Lombardy, Milan. 

Royal  Geographical  Society, Vienna. 

Royal  Institution  of  Cornwall, Truro. 

Registrar-General, Melbourne. 

Society  of  Arts, London. 

Statistical  Society, „ 

Scottish  Meteorological  Society, Edinburgh. 

Smithsonian  Institution,  Washington. 

South  Wales  Institute  of  Engineers,        ....  Swansea. 

Society  of  Physical  Science, Bordeaux. 

The  Meteorological  Observatory, Montsouria,  Paris. 

United  States  Observatory, Washington. 

United  States  Survey, „ 

University  of  Christiania, Chrifltisiria 

Watford  Natural  History  Society, Watford. 


BOOKS  BOUGHT. 

A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Manufacture  of  Paper  in  all  its  Branches.    By  Oarl 

Hofmann.     1  vol.  4to.     Philadelphia,  1873. 
A  Manual  of  Inorganic  Chemistry.    VoL  I.,  The  Non-Metab.    Bj  T.  E.  Thorpe, 

Ph.D.,  F.R.S.     12mo.    London  and  Glasgow,  1877. 
A  Manual  of  Inorganic  Chemistry.    VoL  IL,  The  Msftais.    By  T.  E.  Thorpe, 

Ph.D.,  F.R.S.    12mo.    London  and  Glasgow. 


Additions  to  tlw  Library.  '1  [  \ 

L' Annuo  Scientifique  et  Industrielle.    Par  Louis  Figuier.    Tables  des  20  Premiers 

volumes,  1857—1877.     12mo.     Paris,  1877. 
The  Zoological  Record  for  1875.    VoL  XII.  of  the  Record  of  Zoological  Litera- 
ture.    Edited  by  Edward  Caldwell  Rye,  F.Z.S.,  M.E.S.     8vo.    London, 

1877. 
Reliquko  Aquitanicae ;  being  Contributions  to  the  Archaeology  and  Palaeontology 

of  Perigord  and  the  adjoining  Provinces  of  Southern  France.     By  Edouard 

Lartel  and  Henry  Christy.     Edited  by  Thomas  Rupert  Jones,  F.R.8., 

F.G.S.,  &c.     4 to.     London. 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica.     Vols.  VL  and  VII.    The  Ninth  Edition.  : 
Memoirs  of  the  Geological  Survey,  Scotland.     Text-Book  and  Plates.     Svo. 

Edinburgh,  1872. 
Accidents  in  Mines :  their  Causes  and  Prevention.    By  Alan  Bagot    8vo. 

London,  1878. 
Science  Lectures  at  South  Kensington.     Vol.  I.,  Svo.     London,  1878. 
Industrial  Chemistry :  a  Manual  for  use  in  Technical  Colleges  or  Schools,  and 

for  Manufacturers,  &c.     By  B.  H.  Paul,  Ph.D.     8vo.     London,  1878. 
A  Treatise  on  the  Kinetic  Theory  of  Gases.    By  Henry  William  Watson,  M.  A. 

8vo.     Oxford,  1876. 
Organic  Chemistry.    By  Henry  Armstrong,  Ph.D.,  F.C.S.     London,  1874. 
Inorganic  Chemistry.   By  W.  Allen  Miller,  M.D.,  D.C.S.,  LL.D.   London,  1878. 
Metals ;  their  Properties  and  Treatment.    By  Charles  Loudon  Bloxam.    London, 

1876. 
Telegraphy.    By  W.  H.  Preece,  C.E.,  and  J.  Sivewright,  M.A.    London,  187a 
Elements  of  Machine  Design.     By  W.  Cawthorne  Unwin.     London,  1878. 
The  Art  of  Electro-Metallurgy.     By  G.  Gore.  LL.D.,  F.R.S.    London,  1877. 
Railway  Appliances.     By  John  Wolfe  Barry.     London,  1876. 
Essays ;  Endowment  of  Research.     By  Various  Writers.     London,  1876. 
The  Elements  of  Mechanism.     By  T.  M.  Goodeve,  M.A.     London,  1876. 
The  Principles  of  Mechanics.     By  T.  M.  Goodeve,  M.A.     London,  1876. 
Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Chemical  Philosophy.     By  William  A.  Tildcn, 

D.  Sc.  Lond. ,  F.  C.  S.     London,  1876. 
Strength  of  Materials  and  Structures.      By  John  Anderson,   C.E.,   LL.D., 

F.R.S.E.     London,  1872. 
Electricity  and  Magnetism.    By  Fleming  Jenkins,  F.R.S.S.L.&E.,  M.I.C.E. 

London,  1873. 
Theory  of  Heat.    By  J.  Clerk  Maxwell,  M.A.,  LL.D.Edin.,  F.R.S.S.L&E. 

London,  1871. 
Structural  and  Physiological  Botany.     By  Otto  W.  ThomG.     Translated  and 

Edited  by  Alfred  W.  Bennett,  M.A.,  B.Sc,  F.L.S.     London,  1877. 
Manchester  Science  Lectures.     Eight  Series,  from  1866  to  1876. 
A  Treatise  of  the  Origin,  Nature,  and  Varieties  of  Wine:  being  a  complete 

Manual  of  Viticulture  and  /Enoiogy.     By  J.  L.  W.  Thudichum,  M.D.,  and 

August  Dupr6,  Ph.D.     8vo.     London  and  New  York,  1872. 
American  Addresses,  with  a  Lecture  on  the  Study  of  Biology.    By  Thomas  II. 

Huxley.     Svo.     London,  1877. 
The  History,  Products,  and  Processes  of  the  Alkali  Trade,  including  the  most 

Recent  Improvements.     By  Charles  Thomas  Kingzett  (Consulting  Chemist), 

with  23  Illustrations.     Svo.     London,  1877. 

Vol.  XI.— No.  1.  R 


242  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Mind  and  Body.    By  Alexander  Bain,  LL.D. 

Fungi.     By  M.  C.  Cooke,  M.  A.,  LL.D. 

Optioi  and  Light.    By  Dr.  Eugene  LommeL 

The  Study  of  Sociology.    By  Herbert  Spencer. 

Responsibility  in  Mental  Disease.    By  Henry  Maudatey,  M.D. 

On  Fermentation.    By  P.  Schutzenberger. 

A  New  Treatise  on  Steam  Engineering.    By  John  W.  Nystrom,  C.EL    8vo. 

Philadelphia  and  London,  1878. 
Text-Books  of  Science.— Workshop  Appliances.      By  C.  P.  B.  Shelley,  C.E. 

12mo.    London,  1877. 
Text-Books  of  Science.— A  Treatise  on  Photography.     By  W.  de  Wivekalie 

Abney,  F.R.S.     12mo.     London,  1878. 
Recensionen   von   Friedrich   Wilhelm   BesseL     Heransgegeben   von   Budolf 

Engelmann,  Dr.  PhiL    8vo.     Leipzig,  1878. 
Studies  in  Spectrum  Analysis.    By  Norman  Lockyer.     12mo.     London,  1878. 
The  Physical  Geology  and  Geography  of  Ireland.     By  Edward  Hull,  M.A., 

F.R.S.    8vo.    London,  1878. 
Canadian  Entomologist    Vols.  I.,  IL,  and  IV. 

Revue  Universelle  des  Mines,  de  la  Metallurgie,  &c.     Vols.  I.  and  IL  for  1877. 
The  Theory  of  Screws.    By  Robert  S.  Ball,  LL.D.    8vo.    Dublin,  1876. 
Sketch  of  Thermodynamics.    By  P.  G.  Tait,  M.A.     12mo.     Edinburgh,  1877. 
Association  Francaise  pour  l'Avancement  des  Sciences— Compte-Rendus  de  la 

5s*  Session.     Clermont-Ferrand,  1876. 
Analysis  of  Tea,  Coffee,  and  Cocoa.    By  J.  Alfred  Wanklyn.     London,  1874. 
Analysis  of  Milk.     By  J.  Alfred  Wanklyn.     London,  1874. 
A  Text-Book  of  Physiology.     By  M.  Foster,    M.A.,    M.D.,   F.R.S.      8vo. 

London,  1878. 
Mont  Blanc:  a  Treatise  on  its  Geodesical  and  Geological  Constitution,  its 

Transformations,  and  the  Ancient  and  Recent  State  of  its  Glaciers.    By 

Eugene  Viollet-Le-Duc.    8vo.     London,  1877. 
Science  Papers ;  chiefly  Pharmacological  and  Botanical.    By  Daniel  Hanbury, 

F.R.S.     Edited,  with  Memoir,   by  Joseph  Inoe,   F.L.S.,   F.C.S.     8vo. 

London,  1876. 
Manual  of  Naval  Architecture:  for  the  use  of  Officers  of  the  Royal  Navy, 

Officers  of  the  Mercantile  Marine,  Shipbuilders,  and  Shipowners.     By 

W.  H.  White.    8vo.     London,  1877. 
The  Voyage  of  the  "  Challenger : "  the  Atlantic,  a  Preliminary  Account  of  the 

General  Results  of  the  Exploring  Voyage  of  H. M.S.  " Challenger"  during 

the  Year  1873  and  the  early  part  of  the  Year  1876.     By  Sir  C.  Wyville 

Thomson,  Kt,  LL.D.,  D.Sc,  F.R.S.S.L.&E.,F.C.S.,  F.G.S.,  Ac     2  vols., 

8vo.     London,  1877. 
Sanitary   Engineering.     By   J.    Bailey  Denton,    F.G.S.,    M.Inst  C.E.     8vo. 

London,  1877. 
Manual  of  the  Anatomy  of  Invertebrated  Animals.     By  Thomas  H.  Huxley, 

LL.D.,  F.R.S.     12mo.    London,  1877. 
Anthracen :  its  Constitution,  Properties,  Manufacture,  and  Derivatives,  includ- 
ing Artificial  Alizarin,  Anthrapurpurin,  &c,  with  their  applications  in 

Dyeing  and  Printing.    By  G.  Auerbaoh.    Translated  by  William  Crookes, 

F.R.S.,  Ac.    8vo.     London,  1877. 


Additions  to  the  Library.  343 

Jahres-Bericht  ttber  die  leistungen  der  Chemischen  Technologie  mit  besondtrtr 
Berucksichtigung  der  Gewerbestatistik  for  die  Jahr  1876.    Von  Rudolf  V. 
Wagner.    7  vols,  from  1870  to  1876.    8vo.    Leipsig,  1877. 
Narrative  of  a  Voyage  to  the  Polar  Sea  daring  1875-76  in  H.M.  Shipt  "  Alert  * 
and  "Discovery."     By  Capt.  Sir  G.  S.  Nares,  R.N.,  K.C.B.,  F.R.&, 
Gommander  of  the  Expedition.    Edited  by  H.  W.Feilden,  F.G.8.,C.M.a8., 
F.R.G.S.    2  vols.,  8vo.    London,  1878. 
Bulletin  de  la  SociCte1  Geologique  de  France,  1872-76.    4  Yols. 
Palaeontographical  Society.     7  parte. 
The  Analytical  Theory  of  Heat    By  Joseph  Fourier.    Translated,  with  Notes, 

by  Alexander  Freeman,  M.A.    8vo.    Cambridge,  1878. 
The   Scottish   Naturalist      Edited  by  F.   Buchanan  White,  M.D.,  F.L.8. 

4  vols. 
The  Freedom  of  Science  in  the  Modern  State.     By  Rudolf  Virchow,  M.D. 

12mo.     London,  1878. 
The  Clydesdale  Flora ;  a  Description  of  the  Flowering  Plants  and  Ferns  of  the 

Clyde  District    By  the  late  Roger  Hennedy.     12mo.    Glasgow,  1878. 
British  Manufacturing  Industries : — 

Vol.     V. — Mining,  Metals,  Chemicals,  Ceramics,  Glass,  Paper. 
VI.— Textiles,  Clothing,  Food,  Sundry  Industries. 
VII.— Guns,  Nails,  Locks — Woodscrews,  Railway  Bolts  and  8pikes, 
Buttons,    Pins  —  Needles,    Saddlery,    Electro-plate,   Pens, 
Papier  Mache*. 
VIII.— Acids  and  Alkalies,  Oils  and  Candles,  Gas  and  lighting. 
IX.— Wool,  Flax  and  linen,  Cotton,  Silk. 
„       X. — Shipbuilding,  Telegraphs,  Agricultural  Machinery,  Railways 
and  Tramways. 
XL — Jewellery,  Gold  Working,  Watches  and  Clocks,  Musical  Instru- 
ments and  Cutlery. 
XII.—  Salt,  Preserved  Provisions,  Bread,  Sugar  Refining,  Butter  and 
Cheese,  Brewing  and  Distilling. 
,,  XIII. — The  Industrial  Classes  and  Industrial  Statistics.    2  vols. 
Elements  of  the  Method  of  Least  Squares.    By  Mansfield  Merriman,  Ph.D. 

London,  1877. 
Journal  of  Botany,  British  and  Foreign.    Edited  by  Berthold  Seaman,  Ph.D., 

F.L.S.    4  vols.,  8vo.     London,  1863-66. 
Kinematics  of  Machinery ;  Outlines  of  a  Theory  of  Machines.     By  F.  Rouleaux. 
Translated  and  Edited  by  Alex.  B.  W.  Kennedy,  C.E.     8vo.     London, 
1876. 
Stanford's  Compendium  of  Geography  and  Travel  in  Africa.     Edited  and 
extended  by  Keith  Johnston,  with  Ethnological  Appendix  by  A.  H.  Kea&e, 
B.A.    8vo.    London,  1878. 
Philosophical  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London.     2  vols.,  for  1876 

and  1876.     1  part  of  Vol.  CLXVIL 
Elements  of  Agricultural  Chemistry  and  Geology.     By  the  late  I*rofeasor 
J.  F.  W.  Johnston,  F.R.S.,  Ac,  of  Durham,  and  Charles  A.  Cameron,  M.D., 
F.  R.  C.  S.  L     10th' Edition.    Edinburgh  and  London,  1877. 
The  Statesman's  Year  Book;  Statistical  and  Historical  Annual  of  the  States  of 
the  Civilised  World.    8vo.     1878. 


it 
»» 


>» 


>» 


2*4 


Philosophical  Society  oj  Gla&goxc. 


Education  Department.    Reports  on  the  Philadelphia  International  Exhibition 

,  of  1876.    2  vols.,  8vo.    London,  1877. 
Theory  of  the  Foreign  Exchanges.     By  the  Right  Hon.  George  J.  Goschen,  M.  P. 

9th  Edition.    8vo.    London,  1876. 
The  Geological  Record  for  1875.    An  Account  of  Works  on  Geology,  Mineralogy, 

and  Palaeontology  published  daring  the  Year.    Edited  by  William  Whitakcr, 

RA.,  P.G.S.    8vo.    London,  1877. 
Kongliga  Svenska  Vetenskaps-Akademiens  Handlingar,  for  1874  and  187.r>. 

1  vol    Amsterdam  Society. 
Meteorologiska  Jakttagclser  I.  Sverige  Utgifha  af  Kongl.  Svenska  Vctenskaps- 

Akademien.     1873. 
Ofrersigt  af  Kongl.  Vetenskaps-Akademiens  Forhandlingar. 
Bihang  till  Kongl.  Svenska  Vetenskaps-Akademiens  Ilandlingar. 


LIST    OP   PERIODICALS. 


Weekly. 


Academy. 
Architect. 
Athenaeum. 
Builder. 
Building  News. 
British  Architect. 
British  Medical  Journal. 
Chemical  News. 


Comptes  Rendu  s. 

Engineer. 

Engineering. 

Iron. 

Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts. 

Nature. 

Notes  and  Queries. 

Pharmaceutical  Journal. 


Fortnightly. 


Berichte   der  Deutschen   Chemischen 
Gesellschaft. 


Journal  fur  Praktische  Chemic. 
Polytechnisches  Journal 
Telegraphic  Journal. 


Monthly. 


American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts. 

Analyst. 

Annals  and  Magazine  of  Natural  His- 
tory. 

Annalen  der  Physik  und  Chemie. 

Annales    des    Sciences    Naturelles 
Zoologie. 

Annales  de  Chimie  et  de  Physique. 

Annalen  der  Chemie. 

Annales    des    Sciences    Naturelles 
Botaniqne. 

Bulletin  do   la   SociGte   d'Encouracre- 
ment 

Bulletin  do  la  Society  Chimiqno    de 
Paris. 

Bulletin  Mensuel  de  TObservatorie  de 
Montsouris. 


Chemische  Industrie. 

Entomologist. 

Entomologist,  Midland  Naturalist. 

Microscopic  Journal. 

Monatobericht  der  Koniglich  Preus- 
sischen  Akadcmieder  Wissenschaftcn 
zu  Berlin. 

Geographical  Magazine. 

Geological  Magazine. 

Hardwickc'8  Science  Gossip. 

Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society. 

Journal  of  Botany. 

Journal  de  Pharmacie  et  de  Chimie. 

London,  Edinburgh,  and  Dublin  Philo- 
sophical Magazine. 
■  Sanitary  Journal. 

Zoologist: 


Additions  to  the  Library. 


2« 


Quarterly. 


Annates  dea  Mines. 

Bulletin  de  la  Soci6t6  Industrielle  de 

Mulhousc. 
Journal  of  the  Scottish  Meteorological 

Society. 
Mind:   A  Quarterly  Review  of  Psy- 
*  chology  and  Philosophy. 
Popular  Science  Review. 


Quarterly    Journal    of    Geological 

Society. 
Quarterly  Journal    of    Microscopical 

Science. 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Ornithology. 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Pure  and  Applied 

Mathematics. 
Scottish  Naturalist 
Zcitschrift  fur  Analytiache  Chemia. 


LIST     OF     MEMBERS 

OF  THE 

PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  OF  GLASGOW. 

WITH  YEAR  OF  ENTRY. 
*  Denotes  Life  Members. 


HONORARY  MEMBERS. 

FORKIGX. 

Elected  in  i860— M.  Chevrenl,  Paris. 

—  i860 — M.  Dumas,  Paris. 

—  i860— Professor    H.     Helmholtz, 

Heidelberg. 

—  i860— Professor  Albert   KoUiker, 

Wurtzburg. 

—  1 860— Professor  W.  Weber,  Leipzig. 

—  1874 — Robert  Lewis  John  Ellery, 

Esq.,  F.R.A.S.,  Victoria. 

American. 
Elected  in  i860— Prof.  James  D.  Dana,  Tale 

College,  Connecticut. 

—  i860— Prof.  Loomis,  New  York. 

British. 
Elected  in  1850— Prof.  Balfour,  M.D.,  F.R.S., 

Edinburgh. 

—  i860— Dr.  J.  P.  Joule, Manchester. 

—  i860— Gen.  Sabine,  R.A.,  London. 

—  1874— Prof.  A.  C  Ramsay,  LL.D., 

F.R.S.,  London. 

—  1874— Sir  Joseph  D.  Hooker,  C.  B. ; 

K.  C.S.I. ;   F.R.S.,   Lon- 
don. 

—  1874— Dr.  R.  A.  Smith,  F.R.S., 

F.C.S.,  Manchester. 

—  1875— Wm.  Fronde,  C.E.,  F.R.S., 

Chelston  Cross,  Torquay. 
— •       1876— Prof.  Thos.  Henry  Huxley, 
Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Sec.  R.S., 
F.L.S.,  F.G.S. 

CORRESPONDING  MEMBERS. 

Elected  in  1874— Rev.H.W.Crosskey,F.G.S., 

Edgbaston,  Birmingham. 

—  1874— Robt  Gray,  F.R.S.E.,  Bank 

of  Scotland,  Edinburgh. 

—  1874— Prof.  A.  S.  Herschel,  B.A., 

F.  R.  A.S.,  16  SariUe  Row, 
Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
__       1874— Thomas  E.  Thorpe,  Ph.D., 
F.R.S.E.,     Professor    of 
Chemistry,  Leeds. 


ORDINARY  MEMBERS. 

Buchanan,  Andrew,  M.D.,  186  Bath 
street,  Vice-President.  1833 

Hart,  Robt,Cessnock  Park,  Goran  rd.  1820 
(The  above  are  Original  Members.) 

Adam,  William,  296  Renfrew  street  1876 
Adams,  James,  9  Royal  crescent       1874 
5  Addie,  John,  144  St  Vincent  street  186 1 
Alexander,  James,  J  un.,  153  St  Vin- 
cent street  1870 
Alexander,  Thos.,  8  Sardinia  terrace.  1869 
Alexander,  Jaa.  W.,  3  Fitzroy  pi.    1876 
Anderson,  Alexander,  1 14  Trongate.  1869 
10  Anderson,  David  H.,  Atlantic  Mills, 

Bridgeton.  1875 

Anderson,  Geo.,  M.P.,  Western  Club.  1856 
Anderson,  John,  48  Dundas  street  1 87 1 
Anderson,  John,  Bank  of  Scotland, 

Glasgow.  1873 

Anderson,  T.  M'Call,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Clinical  Medicine  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Glasgow,  14  Woodside  cres.  1873 
15  Armstrong,  Wm.  J.,  3  Royal  Ex- 
change court  1 87 1 
Arnot,  James  Craig,  162  St.  Vincent 

street  1869 

Arrol,  Archibald,  16  Dixon  street     1869 

Arrol,  Walter,  16  Dixon  street  1869 

Arrol,  William  A.,  16  Dixon  street  1869 

20  Arthur,  Allan,  7  Alfred  terrace,  Gt 

Western  road.  1869 

Arthur,    William    Baa,    1    Crown 

gardens,  DowanhilL.  1850 

Anchterlonie,  Thomas  B.,  Bellfield, 
Kirkintilloch.  9 

Bain,  Sir  James,  F.R.B.E.,  3  Park 

terrace.  1866 

Bain,  Robert,  22  Dundas  street  1869 
25  Baird,  Alex.  Smith,  26  Sardinia  ter- 
race, Hillhead.  1870 
Baird,  William,  66  Robertson  street  1875 
Baldfe,  Robert,  I.A.,  83  Bath  street  1870 
Ball,  Henry  W.,  Cranstonhili  Engino 

Works.  1875 

Balloch,  Robert,  88  Union  street.       1843 


248 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


30  Bankier,  W.  D.,  31  St.  Vincent  place.  1874 
Bannatyne,  Mark,  145  W.  George  st  1872 
Barclay,  James,  36  Windsor  terrace.  1872 
Barr,  t.  M.,  C.E.,  16  Dalhouaie  st  1869 
Barron,  James  F.,  226  Sauchiehall  at  1 876 
35  Baxter,  Wm.,  14  Gibson  St.,  Hillhead.  1873 
Bayne  A.  Mai  loch,  32  India  street  1878 
Beckett,  John,  16  St.  Vincent  place.  1872 
Bell,  George,  I. A.,  212  St.  Vincent 

street  1S70 

Bell,  H.,  172  Argyle  street  1876 

40  Bell,  James,  41  Mitchell  street.  1843 

Bell,  James,  32  Elmbank  crescent.    1877 

Bell,  Robt,  M.D.,  F.F.P.S.G.  and 

Ed.,  29  Lynedoch  street.  1869 

Beveridge,  James,  81  Gloucester  at.    1877 

Binnie,  J.,  6  Crown  gar.,  Dowanhill.  1877 

45  Bird,  Gregory,  8  Berkeley  terrace.      1866 

Black,  D.Campbell,M.D.,M.R.C.S.E., 

50  Woodlands  road.  1872 

Black,  John,  16  Park  terrace.  1869 

Black,  J.  Albert,  7  Newton  place.      1869 

Blackie,  Robert,  17  Stanhope  street   1847 

50  Blackie,  W.  G.,  Ph.D.,  F.R.G.S.,  17 

Stanhope  street  1 84 1 

Blair,  G.  M'Lellan,  2  Lilvbank  ter.  1869 
Blair,  J.  M'Lellan,  8  Cecil  pi.,  Paisley 

road.  1869 

Bost,  Timothy,  33  Renfield  street.     1876 

Boucher,  J.,  I.A.,  217  W.  George  st  1870 

55  Bowie,  Campbell  T.,  26  Both  well  st.  1870 

Boyd,  John,  Shettleston  Iron  Works, 

near  Glasgow.  1873 

Boyd,   Wm.,   Blythswood  Foundry, 

61  North  street.  1852 

Brodie,  John  Ewan,  M.D.,  CM.,  20 

Sandy  ford  place.  1873 

Bromhead,  Horatio  K.y  A.B.I.B.A., 

245  St.  Vincent  street.  1870 

60  Broom,  William,  182  Hope  street.  1852 
Brown,  James,  76  St  Vincent  st.  1876 
Brown,  James  F.,  1  Annfield  place, 

Dennistoun.  1877 

Brown,  John,  96  Buchanan  street.  1874 
Brown,  Nicol,  21  Hope  street.  1869 

65  Brown,  Richard,  Eglinton  Chemical 

Co.,  31  St  Vincent  street.  1855 

Brown,  Robert  Langton,  68  Bath  st.  1875 
Brownlee,  J  as.,  23  Burn  bank  gardens,  i860 
Brownlee,  Thomas,  Springbank  Villa, 

Lenzie.  1872 

Brownlie,  James,  Victoria  Saw  Mills.  1877 
70  Brownlie,  John,  2  Oakley  terrace.  1874 
Bruce,  John  Inglis,  62  Robertson  st.  1869 
Bruce,  John  L.,  184  West  Regent  st  1873 
Bryce,  David,  129' Buchanan  street  1872 
Bry  den,  Robt.  A.,I.A.,I5  Dalhousiest  1870 
75  Buchan,  William  P.,  83  Renfrew  st  1875 
Bnchanan,  Alex.  M.,  A.M.,  M.D., 

Professor  of  Anatomy  in  Ander- 
son's College,  201   St    George's 

road.  1S76 


Buchanan,  George,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Clinical  Surgery  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Glasgow,  193  Hath  street.  1875 

Buchanan,  Geo.  S.,  95  Candleriggs.  1845 

Buchanan,  James,  389  Parliamen- 
tary road.  1S77 
80  Buchanan,  Laurence  B.,  190  West 

George  street  1876 

Buchanan,  R.  M.,  2  Albion  place, 
Byars  road,  Hillhead.  1872 

Buchanan,  Wm.  L.,  212  St.  Vin- 
cent street.  1873 

Burnet,  John,  167  St.  Vincent  st.    1850 

Burns,  J.,  M.D.,  15  Fitzroy  place, 
Sauchiehall  street  1864 

85  Burns,  J.  Cleland,  Ochtertyre,  Crieff.  1 874 

Byers,  A.  Stewart,  Cartside  Works, 
"Paisley.  1870 

Cameron,  Chas.,M.D.,  LL.D.,  M.P., 

104  Union  street.  1870 

Cameron,  Duncan,  8S  West  Nile  st.  1875 

Cameron,  H.C.,  M.D.,  27  Elmbank 

crescent  1873 

90  Cameron,  R,  1  N.  Claremont  st      1873 

Campbell,  J.  A.,  LL.D.,  29  Ingram 

street  1S48 

Campbell,  John  D.,  5  Derby  terrace, 

Sandy  ford.  1 858 

Carlile,*Thomas,  23  West  Nile  street  1 85 1 
Carlton,  Charles,  141  St  Vincent  st  1870 
95  Carmichael,  Neil,  M.D.,  CM.,  32 

Abbotsford  place.  1873 

Carrick,  James,  205  Buchanan  st.     1862 
Carrickf  John,  City  Architect,  74 

Hutcbeson  street.  1846 

Cassels,  Robert,  166  St  Vincent  st.  1858 
Cassells,  J.  P.,  M.D.,  2  Newton  ter.  1874 
100  Chalmers,  John,  251  Renfrew  street  1871 
Chapman,  Thomas,  56  Buchanan  8L1849 
Christie,    James,     A.M.,    M.D., 
F.F.P.S.G.,    2   Great  Kelvin 
terrace,  Bank  street,  Hillhead,      1S76 
Christie,  John,  Turkey-red  Works, 

Alexandria,  Dumbartonshire.        1868 
Church,  James,  88  Renfield  street.   1867 
105  Church,  Wm.,  jun.,  67  St  Vincent 

street  1 855 

Clapperton,  John,  5  Sandy  ford  pi.    1874 
•Clark,  G.  W.,  Dumbreck  House.     1877 
Clark,  Henry  E.,  L.R.C.S.  Eng., 

9  Elmbank  street.  1S76 

Clark,  John,  Ph.D.,  138  Bath  st    1S70 

HO  Clark,  John,  9  Wilton  crescent.       1872 

•Clark,  Wm.,  Mile-end.  1876 

Clavering,  Thos.,  21  St  Vincent  pi.  1856 

Clinkskill,  J  as.,  1  Holland  place.      1868 

Clouston,  Peter,  I  Park  terrace.        1861 

115  Coats,  Joseph,  M.D.,  33  Elmbank 

street  1873 

•Cochran,  Robert,  7  Crown  circus, 
Dowanhill.  1877 


List  of  Members. 


249 


Coghiil,  Win.  C,  263  Argyle  street  1873 
Coleman,  J.  J.,  F.C.S.,  13  Dundas 

street  1869 

Collier,  William  F.,  LL.D.,  12  Bel- 

mont  crescent,  Gt  Western  road.  1870 
120  Collins,  Wm.,  3  Park  terrace,  Kast  1869 
Colquhoun,  Hugh,  M.D.,  Anchor- 
age, Both  well.  1842 
Colquhoun,  J  as.,  158  St  Vincent  at  1 876 
Colvil,  John,  62  St  Vincent  street  1877 
Combe,  George  J  as.,  34  Dundas  st.  1877 
225  Combe,  William,  22  Dundas  street.  1877 
Connal,  Michael,  Virginia  buildings.  1848 
Connell,  James,  182  Crookston  st  11870 
Connell,   Robert,   M.D.,   2   Royai 

crescent,  West  1872 

Connell,  Wm.,38  St.  Enoch  square,  1870 
130  Copeland,  J  as.,  1  Thornhill  terrace, 

UUlhead.  i860 

Copland,  William  R,M.  Inst. C.E., 

83  West  Regent  street  1876 

Coubrough,   A.   Sykes,   Blanefield, 

Strathblane.  1869 

Couper,  James,  Craigforth  House, 

Stirling.  1862 

Couper,  James,  37  Lansdowne  cres.1878 
135  Couper,   Wm.,  9  Huntly  gardens, 

Hillhead.  1873 

Cowan,  J.  B.,  M.D.,  Professor  of 

Materia  Medica  in  the  University 

of  Glasgow,  159  Bath  street  1867 
Cowan,  John,  4  Derby  street.  1870 

Cowan,  M'Taggart,  C.E.,  27  Ashton 

terrace,  Hillhead.  1876 

Crawford,   Andw.,  339  Dumbarton 

road.  1S75 

140  Crawford,  David,  Jun.,  20  Tureen 

street,  Calton.  1873 

Crawford,  W.  B.,  104  W.  Begent 

street  1872 

Crawford,  William  C,  M.  A.,  Eagle 

Foundry.  1869 

Cree,  Thomas  S.,  17  Exchange  sq.  1869 
Cross,  David,  25  Park  circus  1850 

145  Gumming,  J.  Simpson,  M.D.,  310 

St  Vincent  street  1874 

Cunliff,  Richard  S.,  175  W.  George 

street  1833 

'Cuthbertson,  John  N.,  29  Bath  st.  1850 

Dansken,  A.  B.,  102  Bath  st.  1877 
*J)ansken,  John,  102  Bath  street  1876 
150  Darling,  Geo.  E.,  247  W.  George  sti870 
Davidson,  J., Gas  Manager,  Mary  hill.  1874 
Davidson,  T.,  Jun.,  33  Garngad  hill.  1872 
Day,StJohnVincent,C.E.,F.R.S.E., 

115  St.  Vincent  street  1S66 

Deas,  Jas.,  C.E.,  7  Crown  gardens, 
Dowanhill.  1869 

155  Dempster,  John,  33  Abbotsford  pi.  1S75 
Dennison,  Wm.,  C.E.,  Land  Sur- 
veyor, 175  Hope  street  1876 


Dewar,  Duncan,  Kirkhill,  Cambcuv* 

lang.  1877 

Dick-Cleland,  A.  B.,  76  Milton  st  1871 
Dickson,  James,  23  Monteith  row.  187 1 
1 60  Dittmar,  W.,  F.  R.  S.  E. ,  Professor  of 

Chemistry,  Anderson's  College.  1875 
Dixon,  A.  Dow,  10  Montgomerie 

crescent,  Hillhead.  1873 

Dixon,  Edward  M.,  B.Sc,  1 1  Hope- 

tonn  place,  Secretary.  i860 

Dixon,  Joseph  Anthony,  175  W. 

George  street  1870 

Dixon,  Peter  W.,  19  Elmbank  eras.  1 871 
165  Dodds,  Rev.  James,  1 5  Sandyford  pi  1876 
Donald,  John,  Thomson  st  Public 

School.  1872 

Donald,  William  J.  A.,  WhiteUw 

Cottage,  BothwelL  1877 

Donaldson,  Alex.,  26  Renfiold  st  1 865 
Dougall,  Franc  Gibb,  167  Canning 

street  1875 

170  Dougall,  John,    M.D.,   F.F.P.S., 

Lecturer  on  Materia  Medica  in  the 

Glasgow  Royal  Infirmary  School 

of  Medicine,  2  Cecil  pi.,  Paisley 

road.  1876 

Douglas,  Campbell,  I. A.,  266  St 

Vincent  street  1S70 

Douglas,  Wm.,  22  W.  Nile  street    1874 

Douie,  Robert,  170  Hope  street      1869 

Downie,  James,  9  S.  Frederick  st     1872 

175  Downie,    Robert,    Jun.,    Carntyne 

Dye-works,  Parkhead.  1 872 

Drew,  Alex.,  149  West  George  st  1869 
Dron,  William,  Cranstonhill.  1873 

Dry  burgh,  Jas.  N.,  7  Matilda  ten, 

Strathbungo.  1872 

Duncan,Eben.,M.D.,C.M.,F.F.P.S.G., 

4  Royal  crescent,  Crosshill.  1 873 

1 80* Duncan,  Robert,  Engineer,  Partick 

Foundry.  1875 

Duncan, William,  Coltness  Iron  Co., 

124  St.  Vincent  street.  1865 

Dunlop,  Archibald,  18  Royal  ter.  1877 
Dunlop,  Nathaniel,  1  Montgomery 

crescent,  Great  Western  road.  1870 
Dunn,  John  S.,Rockvilla  Saw  Mills, 

Port-Dundas.  1876 

185  Dunn,  Robert  Hunter,  4  Belmont 

crescent  1878 

Evans,  Mortimer,  C.E.,  F.G.S.,  97 
West  Regent  street  1873 

Easton, .  William  J.,   150  West 
Regent  street.  1876 

Fairlie,Colln  B.,C.E.,  67  Renfieldst  1874 
Fairlie,  J.  M.,  Charing  Cross  Corner.  1874 
190  Falconer,  Patrick,  11  Both  well  pL, 

Hillhead.  1876 

Farquhar,     John,     Tower     Bank, 
Lenzie.  1872 


250 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


Fergus,  Andw.,M.D.,M.R.C.S.Eng., 

41  Klmbank  street,  President.     1868 
Ferguson,  John,  M.A.,  Professor  of 

Chemistry,  University  of  Glasgow.  1869 
Ferguson,  Peter,  12  Markland  ter., 

Wilson  street,  Hillhead.  1866 

195  Ferguson,  Alex.  A.,  38  M* Alpine  st  1 847 
Ferguson,  Alex.,  31  Elmbank  eras.  1870 
Findlay,  Joseph,  25  Lynedoch  st  1873 
Finlay,  John,  18  Kenfield  street  1850 
Finlayson,  Jas.,  M.D.,  351  Bath  sti873 
200  Fisher,  Donald,  183  St  Vincent  st.  1869 
Fleming,  J.Q.,  M.D.,  155  Bath  stl84i 
Fleming,  William  James,   M.B., 

155  Bath  street.  1876 

Forbes,  George,   B.A.,  F.R.S.E., 

Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy 

in  Anderson's  College.  1872 

•Forsyth,  Matthew,  I.A.,  191  West 

George  street  1877 

305  Foulds,  John,  115  Bath  street.  1877 
Foulis,  David,  M.D.,  191  Hill  st  1877 
Foulis,  William,  42  Virginia  street  1870 
Frame,  Thomas,  Royal  Bank  place.  1863 
Fraser,  Daniel,  1 13  Buchanan  st  1853 
2IO  Frew,  Alex.,  C.E. ,  Land  Surveyor, 

175  Hope  street  1876 

Frew,  Robt,  M.E.,  75  Bath  street  1874 
Fulton,  David,  C.E.,  135  Buchanan 

street.  1878 

Fulton,  David,  Engraving  Works, 

Duke  street  1872 


Gairdner,  W.T.,  M.D.,  Professor  of 

Practice  of  Physic  in  the  University 

of  Glasgow,  225  St.  Vincent  st   1863 
215  Galbraith,  Andrew,  123  Hope  street  185 7 
Galbraith,  James,  M.A.,  LL.B.,  68 

Bath  street  1875 

Galbraith,  Wm.,  3  Blvthswood  sq.  1868 
Gale,  Jas.  M.,  C.E.,  Water  Office, 

23  Miller  street.  1856 

Gardner,  Daniel,  36  Jamaica  street  1869 

220  Gardner,  George,  49  Bath  street.     1873 

Garroway,  John,  58  Buchanan  st.  1875 

Garroway,  Robt,  M.D.,  Rosemoont, 

Cumbernauld  road.  1859 

Geddea,  Wm.,  Battlefield,  Langside.  1 846 

Gemmell,  Wm.,  150  Hope  street    1876 

225  Gentles,  Wm.,  338  Sauchiehall  st.  1870 

Gilchrist,    David,    Beach    Villa, 

PoUoksbields.  1876 

Gillies,  Wm.,  Battlefield,  Langside.1869 
Gillies,  W.  D.,  10  Princes  square,  1872 
Gilmour,  J.    B.,    50  N.  Hanover 

street  1865 

230  Goodwin,  Robert,  75  Buchanan  st  1875 
Gorman,  William,  153  West  Nile 

street.  i860 

Gossman,  Adam,  79  Robertson  st  1870 
Gonrlay,  John,  C.A.,  24  George 

Square.  1874 


Gonrlay,  Robert,  8  Howard  street   1869 
235  Gonrlay,  Robert,  Bank  of  Scotland.  1873 

Gow,  Alexander,  2  Dupdune  road, 
Guilford,  Surrey.  1869 

Gow,  Robert,  Caimdowan,  Dowan- 
hill  gardens.  i860 

Graham,  David,  Jan.,  267  Sanchie- 
hall street  1876 

Grant,  Robert,  M.A.,LL.D.,F.RS., 
Professor  of  Astronomy  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Glasgow;  Observatory, 
Hon.  Vice-President.  i860 

240  Gray,  Charles,  193  Renfrew  street  1870 

Gray,  James,  M.D.,   15  Newton 
terrace.  1863 

Gray,  James,  12  Eelvingrove  street  1876 

Greenlees,  Alex.,  M.D.,  405  St. 
Vincent  street  1864 

Gregory,  T.  Currie,  C.E.,  F.G.S., 
4  West  Regent  street  1858 

245  Grieve,  John,  M.D.,  care  of  W.  L. 

Buchanan,  14  Lynedoch  crescent  1856 

Grieve,  Robert,  L.R.C.S.  Ed.,  52 
Holmhead  street  1872 

Hallows,    Frederic   J.,    133  West 

George  street.  1872 

Hamilton,  Geo.,  149  St  Vincent  st  187 1 
Hamilton,    J.    Struthers,    Adelphi 
Cotton  Works.  1869 

250  Hamilton,  Patrick,  149  St  Vincent 

street  1854 

Hannah,  •Robert  S.,  80  Buchanan 

street  1873 

Hannay,  Anthony,  23  Exchange 

square.  1856 

Hannay,  Thomas,  21  St  Vincent  pi.  1864 
Hannay,  W.  H.,  22  Hope  street     1876 
255  Harvey,  J.  E.,  249  New  City  rd.    185 1 
Hay,  John,  12  Terrace  street  1870 

Henderson,  Frank  Y.,  175  Buchanan 

street.  1876 

Henderson,  Thos.,  47  Union  street  1855 

Henderson,     William,      Chemical 

Works,  Irvine.  V 

260  Henderson,  W.,Williamfield,  Irvine.  1 1 

Henderson,  Wm.,  26  Renfield  st     1873 

Henry,  R.  W.,  14  Garthland  street  1875 

Herriot,  Arthur,  22  Wilson  street    1869 

Hewat,  A.,  F.  F.A.,20  Belmont  eras.  1877 

265  Heys,  ZechariahJ.jSouthArthurlie, 

Barrhead.  1870 

Higginbotham,  James  S.,  147  St 

Vincent  street  1874 

Hill,  Andrew,  31  Arlington  street  1877 

Hilliard,  Joseph,  65  Renfield  street,  1878 

Hislop,    James,    Baronald    House, 

Maryhill.  1874 

270  Hodge,  William,  15  Hillsborough 

square,  Hillhead.  1878 

Hoey,  David  G.,  Workington,  Cum- 
berland. 1869 


lAst  of  Members. 


251 


Hogg,  Charles  P.,  C.E.,175  Hope 

street  1876 

Hogg,  Robert,  26a  Ranfield  street  1865 
Holt,  T.  G.,  25  Wellington  street.  1875 
275  Honeyman,  John,  F.  R.I.  B.A.,  140 

Bath  street.  1870 

Home,  B.  R.,  G.E.,  150  Hope  st  1876 
Houston,  Campbell,  Endrick  Bank, 

Bellabooston.  1873 

Howatt,  James,  146  Buchanan  st  1870 
Howatt,  William,  146  Buchanan  sti870 
280  Hunt,  Edmund,  87  St  Vincent  st  1856 
H outer,  Andw.,  14  Woodside  place.  1870 
Hunter,  James,  Newmains  House, 

Motherwell.  1854 

Hunter,  James,  156  St  Vincent  sti874 
Hunter,  J.  E.,  30  Hope  street.         1878 
285  Hunter,  Taylor  Shipley,  Stobcross 

New  Docks  Works.  1875 

Hutchison,  Bobt,  8  Great  Western 

terrace.  1868 

Hutton,  W.  B.,  77  Benfield  street  1868 

Inglis,  Anthony,  64  Warroch  street  1 854 
Inglis,  John,  64  Warroch  street.      1850 
290  Irvine,    A.K.,    M.D.,   3    Newton 

terrace.  1858 

Jacks,    William,    39    St.  Vincent 

place.  1875 

Jackson,    Thomas,    Coates    House, 

Coatbridge.  1857 

Jacoby,    Gustav,    Prospect    Villa, 

Montgomery  ter.,  Mount  Florida.  187 1 
Jamieson,  John  L.   K.,  Mansion 

House,  Govan.  1868 

295  Johnson,  Rev.  J.  S.,  D.D.,  Manse, 

Cambuslsng.  1870 

Johnstone,  James,  Coatbridge  street, 

Port-Dundas.  1869 

Jones,  William,  286  Bath  crescent  187 1 

Kennedy,  Hugh,  Redely ffc,  Partick.  1876 
Kennedy,  Thos.,  3  North  Exchange 
court  1869 

300  Kennedy,  Walter  Stewart,  Allan- 
bank,  Crossbill.  1873 
Ker,  Wm.,  1  Windsor  ter.,  West    1874 
Kerr,  Charles  Jas.,  42  St  Vincent 

crescent.  1877 

Kerr,  James  Hy.,  13  Virginia  st     1872 
Kerr,  John,  M.A.,  73  Grant  street  1878 
305  Key,  William,    1   Lancelot  place, 

Pollokshields.  1877 

King,  James,  6  Windsor  ter.,  St 

George's  road.  1848 

King,  James,  Hurlet  and  Campsle 
Alum  Company,  115  Wellington 
street.  1855 

Kirk,  Alexander  C,  Govan  Park, 
Govan  road.  1869 


Kirk,  Robert,  M.D.,  Newton  Cot- 
tage, Partick.  1877 
310  Kirkpatrick,  Andrew  J.,  10  Wood- 
side  place.                                    1869 

Kirkwood,  Anderson,  LL.D.,  12 
Windsor  terrace,  West  1869 

Kirsop,  John,  98  Argyle  street        1855 

Knox,  And.  L.,  Montgomerie  drive, 
Kelvinside,  Great  Western  road.   1868 

Knox,  John,  129  W.  George  street  1870 

315  Laing,  Alex.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Mathematics    in    Anderson's 
College.  1846 

Laird,  Geo.,  10  Ann  st,  Bridgeton.1870 

Laird,  Hugh,  Jun.,  Clydesdale  Bank, 
Argyle  street  1875 

Laird,  John,  Marchmont,  Port-Glas- 
gow. 1876 

Lamb,  James,  50  Wilson  street       1870 
320  Lamb,  Thos.,  190   Parliamentary 

road.  1870 

Lang,  Wm.,  Jun.,  190  W.  George 
street.  1865 

Laughlen,  Andrew,  C.E.,  207  W. 
George  street  1849 

Leggat,  Robert,  38  Sauchiehall  st.   1869 

Leisler,  Louis,  130  Hope  street        1869 
325  Ligat,  John,  West  Field,  Rutherglen.1876 

Lindsay,  Archd.  M.,  M.A.,  87  W. 
Regent  street  1872 

Lindsay,  Rev.  Thomas  M.,  M.A., 
D.D.,F.R.S.E.,  F.A.S.,  Professor 
in  the  Free  Church  College.  1873 

Lindsay, Wm.  G.,  30  George  sq.      187 1 

Lockhart,  Robt,  234  St.  George's       *. 

road.  1870 

330* Long,  John  Jex,  12  Whitevale.       1862 

Lothian,  J.  Alexander,  M.D., 
L.R.C.S.E.,  6  Newton  terrace.     1872 

Lumsden,  Sir  James,  20  Queen  st  1836 

M'Adam, William,  45  Hydepark  st.i85l 
M'Adam,  William,   Jun.,   33   St 

George's  road  1875 

335  M* Alley,  Robert,  Chemical  Works, 

Falkirk.  1872 

M 'Andrew,  John,  17  Parkst,  East  1843 
M 'Arthur,  Alex.,  82  Glassford  st  1865 
M 'Arthur,  D.,  26  Bothwell  street  18 70 
Macarthur,  J.  G.,  134  St  George's 

road.  1874 

340  Macaulay,  James,  29  Arlington  st  1877 
M'Call,  J.,  V.S.,  Prof,  of  Veterinary 

Medicine  and  Surgery,  Veterinary 

College,  85  Buceleuch  street.  1866 
M'Callum,  George,  Rossbank,  Cam- 

buslang.  1850 

M'Cann,  James,  D.D.,  F.R.S.L., 

F.G.S.,&c,  i9Lansdownecres.  1876 

M'Coll,  Alexander,  247  Bath  street  1875 

345  MacCoU,  Hector,  65  W.  Regent  at  1876 


252 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


M'Conville,  John,  M.D.,  n  Elm- 
bank  crescent  1S70 

M 'Cowan,    Robert,   C.A.,   87  St. 
Vincent  street.  1S69 

M'Crae,  John,  7  Radnor  street.        1876 

M'Creatfa,  James,  M.E.,  95  Bath 
street.  1874 

350  M'Culloch,  Richard,  4  North  court, 

Roval  Exchange.  1872 

M'Culloch,  William,  50  Westbonrne 

gardens,  West.  1872 

•M'Culloch,  William,  147  Argyle  st.1877 

Macdonald,  Arch.  G.,  8  Park  circus.  1869 

Macdonald,  Thomas,  203  Hope  at.  1869 
355  H'Ewen,  Wm.,  Jun.,  11  Parkter.  1869 

Macfarlane,  James  Lilburn,  Oswald 
Hill,  Partick.  1S76 

Macfarlane,  Samuel,  Oswald  Hill, 
Partick.  1876 

Macfarlane,  Walter,  Saracen  Foun- 
dry, Possilpark.  1855 

M'Farlane,     Walter,     Printworks, 
Thornliebank.  1869 

360  M 'Gavin,  John,  iQElmbank  place.  1869 

MacGiU,  J.  8.,  R.vdal  Mount,  Mont- 
gomerie  drive,  Gt  Western  road.  1869 

M'Gregor,  Duncan,  F.R.G.S.,  45 
Clyde  place.  1867 

M'Gregor,  Jas.  W.,  4  Gt.  Western 
terrace,  Hill  head.  1869 

M'Gregor,  James,  1  East  India 
avenue,  London,  E.C.  1872 

365  M'Grigor,  Alexander  B.,   LL.D., 

172  St.  Vincent  street.  1857 

M '11  wraith,  James,  6  Berkeley  ter.  1872 

M'Intosh,  James,  129  Stockwell  st.  1855 

Macintyre,  Jas.  G.,  162  St.  Vincent 
street.  1876 

M'Intyre,  Peter,  20  Ingram  street.  1873 
370  Mackay,  John,  Jun.,  354  Sauchie- 

hall  street.  1869 

•Mackenzie,  W.  D.,  43  Howard  st.  1875 

M'Kendrick,  John  G.,  M.D.,  CM., 
F.R.C.P.Ed.,  F.R.S.Ed.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Institutes  of  Medicine  in 
the  University  of  Glasgow,  35 
Westbonrne  Gardens.  1877 

M'Kendrick,  John,  54  Port  street, 
Cranstonhill.  1869 

Mackinlay,  David,  6  Great  Western 
terrace,  Hillbead.  1855 

375  Mackinlay,  John,  29  St.  Vincent  pi  1876 

M'Kissock,  Peter,  Hamilton  cres., 
Partick.  1876 

M'Lachlan,  Duncan,  2  Ardine  ter- 
race, Crossbill.  1876 

M'Laren,  Robert,  Canal  st.,  Port- 
Eglinton.  1848 

M'Laren,  Wm.  Ed.,  16  Bothwell  st.1873 
380  Maclean,  A.  H.,  124  Queen  street  1870 

Maclean,  William,  Jun.,  98  West 
George  street.  1869 


Maclehose,  James,  18  Victoria  cres., 

DowanhilL  1867 

Macleish,  J.  M.,  10  Hamilton  drive, 

Hillbead.  1874 

Maclellan,  A.  H.,  6  Lansdowne  cres.  1870 

385  M'Lellan,  Lewis,  26  India  street.     1869 

M'Lellan,  Walter,  i29Trongate.     1856 

Macleod,  Kenneth  M.t  I  Montrose  st.  1870 

M'Nicol,  Peter,  M.A.,  186  North  st.  1873 

M'Onie,   Andrew,  Scotland  street, 

Tradeston.  i860 

390  Macphail,    Donald,    M.  R.C.  M., 

Western  Infirmary.  1877 

M'Pherson,  George  L.,  17  Albert 

drive,  Crossbill.  1872 

Mactcar,  James,  F.C.S.,  St.  Rollox 

Chemical  Works.  1867 

M'Vail,  D.  C,  400  Great  Western 

road.  1873 

Macvicar,     A.,     Shields    Cottage, 

Pollokshields.  1876 

395  Main,  James,  A.R.,  25  Hope  st  1870 
Manford,  Stewart,  5  Dixon  street  1874 
Mann,  John,  C.  A.,  83  West  Regent 

street,  Treasurer.  1856 

Manwell,   James,   2  Albert  road, 

Pollokshields.  1S76 

Marshall,  James,  8  Somerset  place,  1869 
400*Marshall,  Jas.,  Sunnvside,  Partick- 

hill.  "  1875 

Martin,  John  M.,  142  St  Vincent 

street.  1865 

Martin,  Thos.,  166  Sauchiehall  st.  1862 
Martin,  Thos.,  19  Rupert  st,  Great 

Western  road.  187 1 

Mar  wick,  J.  D.,   F.R.S.E.,  City 

Chambers.  1878 

405* Mason,  Stephen,  47  Queen  street  1870 
Mathieson,   John    A.,    211    Hope 

street.  1 85 1 

Mathieson,    Thomas  A.,    13   East 

Campbell  street  1S69 

Maughan,  W.  C,  Kilarden,  Rose- 

neath.  1877 

Mayer,  E.  L.,  12  Hillbead  Gardens,  1872 
410  Maver,  John,  F.C.S.,  2  Ciarinda  ter., 

Pollokshields.  i860 

Mechan,  Arthur,  118  Cheapside  st  1 876 
Mein,  Alex.,  12  Buckingham  ter.  1857 
Menzie8,Tlios.,Uutcheson8*Grammar 

School,  Crown  street  1859 

Michaelson,  M.,  3  Sandyford  place.  1878 
415  Middleton,  Robert,  T.,   179  West 

George  street.  i860 

Millar,  David,  5  Park  Grove  ter.  1873 
Millar,  Jas.,  134  Parliamentary  rd.  1870 
Millar,  William,  3  Woodside  ter.  1873 
Miller,    Alexander,   Jun.   (Messrs. 

Inglis  &  Wakefield),  74  Gordon 

street.  1873 

420  Miller,  Daniel,  C.E.,  203  St.  Vincent 

street  1851 


List  of  Members. 


253 


Miller,  Hugh,  M.  D. ,  F.  F.  P.  S. ,  298 

Bath  street  1 872 

Miller,  J  as.,  Port-Dundas  Pottery.  1863 
Miller,  James,  21  Woodaide  place.  1869 
Miller,  John  (Messrs.  James  Black 

&  Co.),  23  Royal  Exchange  sq.  1874 
425  Miller,  Thomas,  Auburn  Cottage, 

St.  Andrew's  road,  Pol lokshields.  1876 
Miller,  Thos.  P.,  Cambuslang  Dye 

Work*.  1864 

Miller,  W.  M.,  5  Shaftesbury  ter., 

West  Regent  street.  1867 

Miller,  William,  147  St.  Vincent  st.  1869 
Mills,  Edmund  J.,  D.Sc.,  F.R.S., 

Anderson's  College.  1875 

430  Mirrlees,  James  B.,  45  Scotland  St., 

Tradeston.  1869 

Mitchell,  Angus,  42  Miller  street  1872 
Mitchell,  J  as.  L.,  10  Gt.  Western 

terrace.  1878 

Mitchell,  Robert,  54  Carnarvon  st.  1870 
Moftatt,  Alexander,  47  Union  street  1874 
435  Moir,  P.  M.,  Burgh  Mill  Chemical 

Works,  Stirling.  1S68 

Montereau,  Emile  Louis  de,    107 

Pollok  street.  1 877 

Moore,  Alexander,  C.A.,  128  Hope 

street.  1S69 

Moore,   Robert  II.,  32  Richmond 

street  1876 

Moore,   William,   M.E.,  49  West 

George  street.  i860 

440  Morgan,  John,  Springfield  House, 

Bishopbrig^s.  1844 

Morrice,    Alex.,    Tullymet    Villa, 

Ay  ton  road,  Pollokshields.  1873 

Morrison,  Donald,  LL.  1>.,  4  Vic- 
toria terruce,  Dowanliill.  1877 
Morrison,  George,  19  Royal  terrace.  1872 
Morrison,  George  R.t  10  Bclgrave 

terrace,  Hillhead.  1S75 

445  Morrison,  J.  Crooks,  L.D.S.,  341 

Bath  street  1S78 

Morrison,  J  as.,  98  Sauchiehall  st.  1869 
Morton,  Alex.,  241  W.  George  st.  1869 
Morton,    James,    M.D.,    Professor 

of  Materia  Medica  in  Anderson's 

College,  199  Bath  st.  1868 

Morton,  James,  Turkey  Red  Works, 

Dalquhurn,  Kenton.  1876 

450  Mossman,  John,  21  Elmbank  ores.  1870 

Muir,  John,  6  Park  gardens.  1 876 

Muir,  Matthew  A.,  20  Park  terrace.  1861 

Muir,   Thomas,    M.A.,   F.R.S.E., 

Beech  Croft,  Particle,  1874 

Muir,  William  R.,  345  Bath  cres.  1877 
455*Muirhead,    Andrew   Erskine,    Cart 

Forge,  Crossmyloof.  1873 

♦Muirhead,    Henry,    M.D.,    Bushy 

Hill,  Cambuslang.  1 869 

Muirhead,  Thomas,  5  Stella  place, 

Pollokshfoldt,  1 872 


Munro,  Daniel,  7  Park  quadrant.    1867 
Munsie,  George,  1  St  John's  ter., 
Hillhead.  1871 

460  Murdoch,  James,  Glenneuk,  Port- 
Glasgow.  1857 
Murdoch,  J  as.  B.,  Hamilton  place, 

Langside.  1855 

♦Murray,   David,   169  W.   George 

street.  1876 

Murray,  George,  8  Ingram  street.    1872 
Murray,  George,  18  Carrington  st  1877 

465  Nairn,  Archibald,  63  North  Fred- 
erick street.  1870 
Napier,  James,  F.C.S.,  F.R.S.E., 

Maryfield,  BothweU.  1849 

Napier,  J  as.,  Jun.,  21  Roselea  drive.  1870 
Napier,  James  R.,  F.R.S.,  22  Blyths- 

wood  square,  Vice-President       1850 
*Napier,    John,   Saughneld   House, 
Hillhead.  1849 

470  Neilson,   Walter,    172  W.  George 

street  1856 

Neilson,    Walter    M.,    Hydepark 

Works,  Springbum.  1870 

Neilson,  Wm.,  43  Renfield  street.    1871 
Nelson,  D.  M.,  48  Gordon  street    1875 
Newhaus,  Albert,  I  Prince's  terrace, 
Dowanhill.  1874 

475  Newman,  David,  12  Annfield  ter- 
race, Partickhill.  1877 
Nicol,   David,  23  Nelson   terrace, 

Hillhead.  1872 

Nicol,  James,  City  Chambers.  1872 

Nicolson,   Thos.,    183   St  Vincent 

street  1858 

Nowery,  William,  37  Derby  st.       1876 

480  Ogilvie,   Thos.   Robertson,   F.C.S., 

Bank  Top,  Lyle  st,  Greenock.      1875 

Osborne,  Alex.,  5  Oakley  terrace, 
Dennistoun.  1 870 

Outram,  D.  E.,  16  Grosvenor  ter- 
race, Hillhead.  1878 

Paris,  Wm.,  Glasgow  Iron  Works, 
St  Rollox.  1869 

Paris,  William,  Jun.,  Glasgow  Iron 
Works.  1872 

485  Park,  James,  42  Millburn  street      1877 
*Parnie,  James,  26  Lynedoch  street. 1 874 

Paterson,  Adam,  LL.D.,  45  West 
George  street  1843 

Paton,  James,  F.L.S.,  Alva  Cot- 
tage, Cambuslang.  1876 

Patterson,  T.  L.,  F.C.S.,  at  John 
Walker  &  Co. 'a,  Greenock.  1873 

490  Peden,  William  N.,  11  Rose  street, 

Garnethill  1872 

Pennycook,  C.  H.,  12  Canning  pi.  1869 

Peters,  John,  29  S.  Shamrock  at.    1874 

Pickering,  John,  5  Royal  crescent.  1875 


254 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


Pickering,  Robert,  13  Montgomery 
crescent,  Hillhead.  1875 

495  Pirie,  John,  M.D.,  26  Elmbank 

creeeent.  1877 

•Pirrie,  Robert,  9  Bockiogbtm  ter.  1875 
Pollock,  Morris,  12  Park  terrace.  1875 
Poynter,  John  E.,  8  Princes  aq.t 

Buchanan  street.  1866 

Pringle,Quintin,  B.Sc.,B.A.,LL.B., 
23  Lacrosse  place,  Belmont  st, 
Hillhead.  1872 

500  Proven,  James,  17  Gordon  street.  1868 
Ramsay,  John,  of  Kildalton,  M.P., 

5  Dixon  street  1856 
Ramsay,  William,  C.E.,  11  Ashton 

terrace,  Dowanhill.  1 84 1 

Ramsay,  Wm.,  Ph.D.,  11  Ashton 

terrace.  1875 

Randolph,  Charles,  14  Park  terrace.  1836 
505  Bankine,  David,  C.E.,    75  West 

Kile  street  1875 

Rankine,  Captain  John,  256  Great 

Western  road.  i860 

Raphael,  Robert,  130  Hope  st.  1868 
Readman,  Robert,  Derby  terrace,  1848 
Reid,  Andrew,  25  North  Albion 

street  1875 

510  Reid,  James,  10  Woodside  terrace.  1870 
Reid,  J.  G.,  2  Sandy  ford  place.  .1874 
Reid,  Tbos.,  M.D.,   11   Elmbank 

street  18C9 

Reith,  Rev.  George,  M.A.,   Free 

College  Church,  16  Queen's  cres.  1876 
Renfrew,  Robert,  M.D.,  42  Lans- 

downe  crescent  1877 

515  Renison,    William,    3    Woodside 

'place.  1856 

Renton,  J.  Crawford,  M.B.,  L.R.C.P., 

6  S.  Ed.,  18  St  James  terrace, 
Billhead.  1875 

Ritchie,  Wm.,  Jan.,    Kincaidfield 

House,  Milton  of  Campsie.  1870 

Roberton,  James,  LL.D.,  Professor 

of  Conveyancing  in  the  University 

of  Glasgow,  1  Park  terrace,  east.  187 1 
Robertson,  Andw.  Carrick,  132  West 

Regent  street.  1874 

520  Robertson,    Archibald,   25    Queen 

street  1863 

Robertson,  Archibald,  36  Hope  st.  1877 
Robertson,  James,  I  Clifford  street, 

Pauley  road.  1865 

Robertson,  John,  10  Teleview  ter., 

Langside,  Librarian.  i860 

Robertson,  Robert,  41  Cumberland 

street  1877 

525  Robertson,  Robert  A.,  Nenthorne, 

Ayton  road,  Pollokshields.  1877 

Robertson,  R.  Blair,  1 7  lflon  cres., 

Paisley  road.  1872 

Robertson,    Wm.,  C.E.,    123  St 

Vincent  street  1869 


Robertson, William,  BlackhOl,  Cum- 
bernauld road.  1876 

Robeon,   Hasleton  R,   14  Royal 
crescent,  W.  1876 

530  Ross,  Henry,  7  Park  quadrant        1876 

Ross,  James,  Wallside  House,  Fal- 
kirk. 1876 

Rottenburg,  Paul,  130  Hope  st       1872 

Rowan,  David,  22  Woodside  place.  1863 

Rundell,  R.  Cooper,  Underwriters' 
Room,  Royal  Exchange.  1877 

535  Russell,  James  B.,  B.A.,  M.D.,  1 

Montrose  street  1862 

Russell,  Thomas,  Cleveden,  Kelvin- 
side  Gardens.  1870 

Salmon,  James,  F.R.I.B.A.,  197 
St  Vincent  street  1870 

Salmon,  W.   Forrest,  F.R.I.B.A., 
197  St  Vincent  street.  1870 

Sandeman,  D.,  Woodlands,  Lenzie.  1870 
540  Schuman,  Sigismund,  7  Royal  Bank 

place.  1866 

Scott,  Alex.,  19  St  Vincent  cres.    1871 

Scott,  E.  J.,  24  Sardinia  terrace.     1872 

Scott,  James,  6  Wilton  crescent.      1869 

Scott,   James  F.,   62  Esplanade, 
Greenock.  1876 

545  Scott,  Thomas,  45  St.  James  st, 

Kingston.  1873 

Scott,  William,  12  Princes  terrace, 
Dowanhill.  1875 

Seligmann,  Hermann  L.,  29  St  Vin- 
cent place.  1850 

Selkirk,  Jas.  L.,  107  St  Vincent 
street  187 1 

Sellers,  Jas.,  Jun.,  266  St  Vincent 
street.  1873 

550  Shanks,  Alexander,  Belgrade  Villa, 

Ayton  road,  Pollokshields.  1876 

Shaw,  William,  9  Great  Western 
terrace.  1878 

Sheriff,  John,  156  St.  Vincent  st   1876 

Sim,  William,  W  Gt.  Clyde  street  1862 

Sloan,  Samuel,  M.D.,  4  Newton 
terrace.  1877 

555  Smart,  Robt,  M.D.,  4  Queen's  cres.  1873 

Smellie,  Thos.  D.,  209  St.  Vincent 
street  1871 

Smith,  Francis,  45  Gordon  street    1875 

Smith,  Geo.,  Sun  Foundry,  Parlia- 
mentary road.  1870 

Smith,  Harry  J.,  Ph.D.,  27  Buck- 
ingham terrace.  1877 
560  Smith,  Hugh  C,  54  Gordon  street.  186 1 

Smith,  James,  21  Bath  street         1869 

Smith,  James,  Benvne,  Dowanhill.  1869 
•Smith,  J.Guthrie,  173  St  Vincent  st.  1875 

Smith,   J.   P.,   C.E.,   Haughhead 
cottage,  Govan  road.  1867 

565  Smith,  Napier,  63  St  Vincent  st    1869 
•Smith,  William,  20  Ropework  lane.  1854 


List  of  Members. 


255 


Smith,  Wm.  A.,  6  S.  Hanover  st  1870 
Smith,  W.  R.  W.,6  S.  Hanover  st  1868 
Smyth,  Hugh  F.,    Bank  Agent, 

2  Dumbarton  road.  1877 

57o"Sorley,  Robert,  178  Argyle  street  1877 
Spencer,  John,  2  Rosslyn  terrace, 

DowanhiU.  1874 

Stanford,  Edward  C.  C,   F.C.S., 

Thoraloe,  Partick  Hill.  1864 

Steel,  James,  25  Holmhead  atreet  1870 
Steel,  James,  302  St  Vincent  at     1875 
575  Stephen,  Robert  R.,  Adelphi  Bis- 
cuit Factory.  1867 
*Steven,  Hugh,  4  Buckingham  ter.    1869 
Steven,  John,  32  Elliot  street         1875 
Stevenson,  Jas.,  Jan.,  23  West  Nile 

street  1870 

Stevenson,  William,  4  Berkeley  ter.  1870 
580  Stewart,  A.  H.,  6  Holy  rood  eras.     1876 
Stewart,  A.  D.,M.B.,  L.R C.S.Ed., 

320  St.  Vincent  street  1876 

Stewart,  Daniel  Rankin,  Broxburn 

Oil  Co.,  Ld.,  Broxburn.  1877 

Stewart,  David,  3  Clifton  place.  1856 
Stewart,  David  Y.,  3  Proven  place, 

North  Montrose  street  1849 

585  Stewart,  Henry,  City  Saw  Mills,  1876 
Stewart,  James,  sen.,  84  Norfolk 

street  1875 

Stewart,  James  R,  32  Oswald  st  1845 
Stewart,  John,    34    Moray   place, 

Edinburgh.  1869 

Stewart,  John,  Western  Saw  Mills.  1877 
590  Stewart,  John,  29  Napiershall  st     1875 
Stewart,   Peter,   M.D.,  1  Albany 

place.  1847 

Stewart,  Wm.,  175  St.  Vincent  st  1869 
Stillie,  Thos.  L.,  21  St  Vincent  pi.  1869 
Stirton,  James,  M.D.,  F.L.S.,  15 

Newton  street  1876 

595  Stoddart,    James    Edward,    Clyde 

Lead  Works,  Cornwall  street       1872 
Storer,      David,     Colour     Works, 

Sydney  street  1869 

Storer,   James,  48  French    street, 

Bridgeton.  1 875 

Strain,    John,    C.E.,    143  West 

Regent  street  1 876 

*  Sutherland,    David,    Green  brae, 

Pollokshields.  1877 

600  Swan,    William,    Collina  Cottage, 

Maryhill.  1 870 

Swanson,  John,  1  Grafton  square.    1872 
Symington,  Andrew,  119  St  Vin- 
cent street  1873 

Tatlock,  John,  138  Bath  street  1875 
Tatlock,  RobtR.,  F.RS.E.,F.C.S., 

138  Bath  street.  1868 

605  Taylor,  Benjamin,  7  Florence  place.  1872 
Taylor, William  G.,  Jun.,  Gartmore 

villa,  Battlefield,  Langside.  1874 


Teacher,  Adam,  12  St  Enoch  aq.~  1868 

Teacher,  Donald  M.,  Sunnybank, 
Albert  road,  CroathilL  1874 

Templeton,    James,    7    Woodaide 
crescent  1876 

610  Tennant,     Charles,     St      Rollox 

Chemical  Works.  1868 

Tennant,  Gavin  P.,  M.D.,  120 Bath 
street  1875 

Thomson,  Alfred  Arthur,  Annfield 
house,  Dcnnistoun.  1877 

Thotnson,Allen,M.D.,LL.D.,F.RS., 
66  Palace  Garden  ter.,  London, W., 
Hon,  Vice-President.  1849 

Thomson,  David,  LA.,  122  Well- 
ington street  1869 
615  Thomson,  Fred.  W.,  3  St  John's 

terrace,  Billhead.  1878 

Thomson,  George,  69  Ingram  street.  1859 

Thomson,  George  P.,  2  Newton  pi.  1874 

Thomson,  Graham  Hardie,  10  Donna 
ter.,  North  Woodaide.  1869 

Thomson,  Hugh,  M.D.,  330  Ren- 
frew street.  1877 
620  Thomson,  James,  F.G.S.,  3  Ab- 

botsford  place.  1863 

Thomson,  James,  Allan  &  Mann's, 
48  St  Enoch  square.  1870 

Thomson,  James,  LA.,  219  Hope 
street  1870 

Thomson,  James,  LL.D.,  C.E.,  Pro- 
fessorof  Engineering  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Glasgow,  Oakfield  House, 
University  avenue,  Hillhead.        1874 

Thomson,  James,  1  Broom  Park 
terrace.  1877 

625  Thomson,    Jamas    R,    Qydebank 

Foundry.  1863 

Thomson,  John,  Alliance  Foundry.  1870 

Thomson,  John  D.,  4  Rosslyn  ter., 
Hillhead.  1870 

Thomson,  Jonathan,  136  W.  George 
atreet  1869 

Thomson,SirWilliam,LL.D.,F.R.a, 
Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy, 
University  of  Glasgow.  1846 

630  Thomson,  William,  Annfield  house, 

Dennistoun.  1877 

Townsend,  Joseph,  13  Crawford  st, 
Port-Dundas.  1856 

Townsend,  Robert,  128  Bishop  st, 
Port-Dundas.  1865 

Turnbull,  John,  62  St  Vincent  st  1843 

Turnbull,  Robert,  LA.,  122  Wel- 
lington street  1877 
635  Turner,  William,  33  Renfield  st      1875 

Ure,  John,  Crown  Mills,  68  Wash- 
ington street  1856 
Urie,  John,  83  Jamaica  atreet         1876 

Waghorn,  Geo.  A.,  88  Gt  Clyde  at.  1876 


256 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


Waddell,     Peter     Ilately,    Jun., 
75  Hill  street,  Garncthill. 
640  Walker,    Archibald,    4    Muirhead 
street. 

Walker,  Malcolm  M«N.,  F.R.A.&, 
45  Clyde  place. 

Wallace,  Abraham,  M.D.,  4  New- 
ton place. 

Wallace,  Wm.,  Ph.D.,  F.R.S.E., 
F.  C.  S. ,  Vice  -  President,  1 38 
Bath  street. 

Watson,Eben.,A.M.,M.D.,  1  Wood- 
side  terrace. 
645  Watson,  George,  8  Woodside  cres- 
cent. 

Watson,  James,  2  Florentine  gar., 
Hillhead. 

Watson,  Robert,  42  Hntcheson  st 

Watson,  Thomas  Lennox,  10S  W. 
Regent  street 

Watson,   Wm.    W.,   F.S.S.,   City 
Chambers. 
650  Watson,  William  Renny,  16  Wood- 
lands terrace. 

Watt,  Alexander,  67  Renfield  st. 

Weir,  John,  M.D.,  F.R.C.S.  Edin., 
25  Sandyford  place. 

Wenley,  James  A.,  8  Lynedoch 
place. 

Westlands,  Robert,  8  Howard  st 
655  White,  James,  241  Sauchiehall  st. 

White,  John,  Scotstoun  and  Slit- 
mills,  Partick. 

White,  W.  K.,  9  Fitzroy  place. 

Whitelaw,  Alexander,  87  Sydney 
street. 

Wilson,  Alexander,  Hydcpark  Foun- 
dry, 54  Finnieston  street. 
660  Wilson,  Charles,    7  Royal  Bank 
place. 

Wilson,  Daniel,  124  Bothwell  st 

Wilson,  David,  63  Ingram  street. 


S76 
869 
S$3 

877 

851 

873 
S64 

S73 
872 

876 

865 

870 
870 

875 

870 
869 
876 

875 
878 

S55 
874 

875 
872 

850 


Wilson,  John,  1 1  Woodside  place.  1 S73 

Wilson,  J.  G.,  M.D.,  F.R.S.E., 

F.  R.C  S.  E.,  Professor  of  Midwifery 

in  Anderson's  College,  9  Woodside 

crescent.  1S56 

665  Wilson,  J.  Vcitch,  116  St  Vincent 

street  1S74 

Wilson,  Joseph,  C.E.,  175  Hope 
street  1S77 

Wilson,  Peter  M'Gregor,  Home 
park,  Uddingston.  1S77 

Wilson,  William,  llolmhurst,  Dowan- 
hill  gardens.  1870 

Wilson,  William  Thorburn,  4  Wcst- 
boarne  terrace.  1877 

670  Wingate,  P.,   11  Broomhill  drive, 

Partick.  1S72 

Wolfe,  J.  R,  M.D.,  F.R.C.S.E., 
18  Brandon  place.  1S72 

Wood,  J.  Muir,  42  Buchanan  st.     1S50 

Woodburn,  J.  Cowan,  M.D.,  197 
Bath  street  1S69 

Wright  S.  H.,  M.D.,  CM., 
M.  K.  C.  P.  E. ,  Spring  Mount, 
Northwich,  Cheshire.  1S73 

675  Wright,    Thomas,    12S    Bothwell 

street  1S73 

Wttnsch,  Ed.  A.,  F.G.S.,  81  Buch- 
anan street.  1863 

Wyper,  Jas.  C,  107  Union  street.  1870 

Young,  Jas. ,  F.  R.  S. ,  Kelly,  Weray ss 
Bay.  "     1852 

Young,  John,  M.  D. ,  F.  R.  S.  E.  ,Prof. 
of  Natural  History  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Glasgow,  38  Cecil  street, 
Hillhead.  1866 

6S0  Young,  John,  Jun.,  Forth  street, 

Port-Dundas.  1870 

Young,  Robert,  486  St  Vincent  8^1875 

Younger,  George,  1  N.  Exchange 
court  1874 


BELL  AMD  BAUT,  rBUfTSCS,  41  MXTCSJU.k  STIiXST,  QL1SGOW. 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF  THE 


PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY  OF  GLASGOW. 


SEVENTY-SIXTH    SESSION. 


I.  — On  a  New  Method  of  determining  for  several  Thousand  Years 
in  advance  the  Day  of  tlie  Week  corresponding  to  any  given 
date.     By  Mr.  James  Dickson. 


[Read  before  the  Society,  Nov.  6,  1878.] 


The  following  method  of  finding  the  day  of  the  week  for  any  day 
in  several  thousand  years,  like  the  one  already  in  use,  is  limited 
as  to  the  extent  of  its  application  by  the  duration  of  the  present 
Gregorian  System,  which  is  well  known  will  continue  to  be  true, 
without  necessity  of  correction,  for  a  period  of  3600  years.  While 
necessarily  arriving  at  the  same  results,  the  present  method  diners 
somewhat  in  detail  from  the  old  one  of  finding  the  i(  Dominical 
Letter"  for  any  year.  That  method,  as  is  well  known,  has  for  its 
object  the  determining  of  the  date  of  the  first  Sunday  in  any  year; 
that  accomplished,  the  order  in  which  the  Sundays  (and  all  the 
other  days  of  the  week)  occur  during  the  year  is  easily  settled  by 
a  simple  calculation,  or  a  table.  There  being  seven  days  in  the 
week,  there  are,  of  course,  seven  possible  dates  for  Sunday,  e^Sfc 
Vol.  XI.— No.  2-  a 


258 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


might  fall  on  the  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  4th,  5th,  6th,  or  7th  day  of 
January.  Corresponding  to  these  dates,  or  numbers,  it  has  been 
customary  to  attach  the  letters  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  and  G.  Should 
the  result  of  the  calculation  for  the  Dominical  (or  LonFs-day) 
letter  for  any  year  give  the  number  5,  then  the  D.L.  for  that  year 
would  be  E;  and  so  with  the  others.  Now,  in  Roman  Catholic 
countries  (or  countries  that  follow  the  same  feast-day  observances) 
it  is  not  difficult  to  see  the  advantage  of  this  arrangement.  But 
in  Protestant  countries,  where  the  same  ecclesiastical  requirements 
do  not  exist,  any  other  arrangement,  for  civil  purposes,  would  do 
equally  well,  and  might  in  some,  moreover,  have  the  advantage  of 
greater  simplicity  and  directness. 

On  going  over  the  subject  recently,  it  occurred  to  me  that  an 
excellent  arrangement  wculd  be  the  following : — 


Monday. 

Tuesday. 

Wednesday. 

Thursday. 

Friday. 

Saturday. 

Sunday. 

A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

F 

G 

1 

o 

3 

4 

5 

G 

0 

But  while  in  the  established  system  Sunday  may  be  represented 
by  any  of  the  seven  letters  or  numbers,  I  have  supposed,  in  this 
arrangement,  an  invariable  relation  to  exist  between  the  days  of 
the  week  and  the  letters  or  numbers;  that  is,  Monday  is  always 
represented  by  A,  or  1 ;  Tuesday  by  B,  or  2 — and  so  on.  I  have 
also  further  supposed — as  theoretically  permissible — the  Gregorian 
Calendar  to  begin  at  the  year  1  of  the  Christian  era.  This  allows 
of  a  somewhat  singular  but  useful  coincidence,  viz.,  that  the  first 
day  of  the  era  should  begin  with  A,  or  Monday.  There  being  no 
special  reason  for  the  retention  of  the  term  Dominical  Letter,  1 
shall  in  what  follows  call  the  letters  "  Year  Letters,"  and  their 
corresponding  numbers  "Characteristic  Numbers/'  These  are, 
in  limine,  the  main  points  of  difference  between  the  established 
system  and  the  one  here  introduced. 

The  following  table,  which,  so  far  as  the  first  days  of  the  years 
are  concerned,  is  a  complete  Calendar  for  400  years,  exhibits  the 
joint  effect  of  the  Julian  and  Gregorian  systems  in  changing  the 
order  of  the  days  of  the  week  : — 


Mr.  James  Dickson  on  a  Jfew  Method,  <kc 


259 


TABLE    L 
(Showing  the  "  Year  Letters  "  in  a  cycle  of  400  years). 


1st  Century. 

A 

1 

7 

• 

18 

24 

29 

35 

• 

46 

52 

57 

63 

• 

74 

80 

85 

91 

• 

B 

2 

8 

13 

19 

• 

30 

36 

41 

47 

• 

58 

64 

69 

75 

• 

86 

92 

97 

€ 

3 

* 

14 

20 

25 

31 

• 

42 

48 

53 

59 

• 

70 

76 

81 

87 

• 

98 

D 

4 

9 

15 

• 

26 

32 

37 

43 

• 

54 

60 

65 

71 

• 

82 

88 

93 

99 

E 

• 

10 

16 

21 

27 

* 

38 

44 

49 

55 

• 

66 

72 

77 

83 

• 

94100 

F 

5 

11 

• 

22 

28 

33 

39 

• 

50 

56 

61 

67 

• 

78 

84  89 

95 

G 

6 

12  17 

1 

23 

• 

34 

40 

45  51 

j 

• 

62 

68 

73 

79 

• 

90 

96 

2nd  Century. 

A 

1 

3i  • 

14 

20 

25 

31 

• 

42 

48 

53 

59 

• 

70' 

76 

81 

87 

• 

98 

B 

4'  9 

15 

• 

26 

32 

37 

43 

• 

54 

60 

65 

71 

• 

82 

88 

93 

99 

C 

• 

10 

16 

21 

27 

• 

38 

44 

49 

55 

■ 

66 

72 

77 

83 

• 

94200 

D 

5 

11 

• 

22 

28 

33 

39 

• 

50 

56 

61 

67 

ft 

78 

84 

89 

95 

E 

6 

12 

17 

23 

• 

34 

40 

45 

51 

• 

62 

68 

73 

79 

• 

90 

96 

F 

101 

7 

• 

18 

24 

29 

35 

• 

46 

52 

57 

63 

• 

74 

80 

85 

91 

• 

G 

2 

8 

13 

19 

• 

30 

36 

41 

47 

• 

58 

m 

69 

75 

• 

86 

92 

97 

3rd  Century. 

A 

• 

10 

16  21 

27 

• 

38  44 

49 

55 

• 

66 

72 

77 

83 

* 

1 
94  300 

B 

5 

11 

» 

22 

28 

33 

39  . 

50 

56 

61 

67 

• 

78 

84 

89 

95 

C 

6 

12 

17  23 

• 

34 

40 

45 

51 

• 

62 

68 

73 

79 

• 

90 

96 

D 

201 

7 

• 

18  24 

29 

35 

• 

46 

52 

57 

63 

• 

74 

80 

85 

91 

• 

E 

2 

8 

13 

19'  . 

30 

36 

41 

47 

• 

58 

64 

69 

75 

1 

86 

92 

97 

F 

3 

• 

14 

20  25 

31 

• 

42 

48 

53 

59 

• 

70 

76 

81 

87 

• 

98 

G 

4 

9 

15 

• 

26 

32 

37 

43 

* 

54  (>0  65 

1 

71 

• 

82 

88 

93 

99 

4th  Century. 

A 

6 

12 

17 

23 

• 

34 

40 

45 

51 

• 

62 

68 

73 

79 

• 

90 

96 

B 

301 

7 

• 

18 

24 

29 

35 

• 

46 

52 

57  63 

. 

74 

80 

85 

91 

• 

C 

o 

8 

13 

19 

• 

30 

36 

41 

47 

• 

58  64 

69 

75 

• 

86 

92 

97 

D   3 

• 

14  20 

25 

31 

• 

42 

48 

53 

59  . 

70 

76 

81 

87 

• 

98 

E 

4 

9 

15 

• 

26 

32 

37 

43 

• 

54 

60  65 

71 

• 

82 

88 

93 

99 

F 

■ 

10 

16 

21 

27 

• 

38 

44 

49 

55 

.  !  66 

72 

77 

83 

• 

94 

400 

G 

5 

11 

• 

22 

28 

33 

39 

• 

50 

56 

61 

67 

• 

78 

84 

89 

95 

• 

[Resuming  with  A  in  401,  801,  1201,  1601,  2001,  Ac.] 

Starting  with  the  year  1  of  the  first  century,  the  first  day  of  the 
year  is  A ;  and,  because  an  ordinary  year  consists  of  52  weeks  and 
1  day,  the  year  2  would  begin  with  B.     Eot  tXis  raa&  tqutool  ^fc&» 


260  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

years  3  and  4  would  begin  with  C  and  D  respectively.  But  the 
year  4  being  a  "  leap  "  year,  5  would  begin  with  F  (E  being  the 
last  day  of  year  4).  At  the  end  of  the  year  28  we  find  a  complete 
cycle  of  changes,  and  start  with  the  year  29,  as  we  did  at  first, 
with  A.  (The  years  57  and  85  would  be  similarly  marked).  That 
is  the  effect  of  the  Julian  computation,  But  at  the  end  of  the 
century  there  is  an  interruption  of  this  order,  and  the  year  100, 
instead  of  being  a  leap-year,  would,  according  to  the  Gregorian 
computation,  be  an  ordinary  one  of  365  days.  The  effect  of  this 
is  that  the  second  century  begins  with  F  instead  of  G,  as  it  other 
wise  would  if  the  Julian  intercalation  only  operated.  On  the 
whole  there  is  thus  a  shifting  back  of  two  days  (in  the  order  of 
the  days  of  the  week)  in  the  course  of  the  century.  The  years 
200  and  300  being  likewise  ordinary,  the  third  and  fourth  centuries 
begin  with  D  and  B  respectively.  But  the  year  400  being,  ac- 
cording to  the  last  provision  of  the  Gregorian  Calendar,  a  leap-year, 
the  fifth  century  begins  with  A,  as  it  did  at  the  beginning  of  the 
era.  Hence  we  see  400  years  complete  the  cycle  of  changes  pro- 
duced by  Julian  and  Gregorian  systems  together. 

A  general  formula  for  these  letters  will  now  be  obvious. 
Suppose  in  the  third  century  we  take  the  year  272.  Leaving  out 
the  hundreds  for  the  present,  and  directing  our  attention  to  the 
first  fourth  of  the  table,  we  see  that  in  72  years  there  are  two 
Julian  cycles  and  16  years  over;  and  looking  at  16  in  the  table 
we  see  that  three  blanks  precede  it,  corresponding  to  the  leap-years 
in  the  period  (16 — 1).  And,  as  each  of  those  blanks  corresponds  to 
a  letter  passed  over,  their  number  (3)  is  added  to  the  remainder 
found  by  dividing  16  by  7  (or  2).  Hence  3  +  2,  or  5,  is  the 
characteristic  number  of  the  year  72  in  the  first  century.  But  as 
each  completed  century  shifts  the  order  back  two  days  we  should 
have 

5  —  2,  or  3 — the  char.  numb,  for  the  year  172, 
and  3  —  2,  or  1—         „  „  „  272. 

On  looking  at  the  table  for  the  year  272  we  find  opposite  it  the 
letter  A,  or  1. 

Formulating  the  process     :     let 
y  =  current  years  in  any  century.J 
c  =  number  of  completed  centuries. 

[         ]r  >  or  (         )r  >  *he  svmDol  f°r  remainders  (only). 
[        Jra  ,  or  (        )»  ,  the  symbol  for  whole  numbers  (only). 


Mr.  James  Dickson  on  a  New  Method,  dec  261 

Then  the  characteristic  number  for  any  year  is* — 


N   = 


P£l*  [%4-<», 


or,  reducing  to  its  greatest  simplicity, 

=  \T/r  +  \4/n  2  \T/r;  rejecting  sevens  if  necessary. 
This  is  identical  with  the  alternative  formula  when  y  is  less  than 
28;  and  when  y  is  greater  than  28,  the  difference  between  the  two 
is  either  7  or  a  multiple  of  7.  Hence  the  result,  so  far  as  the 
week-day  is  concerned,  is  the  same  Expressed  in  words  we  have 
then  the  following : — 

Rule. — "  Divide  the  current  years  of  the  century  by  7;  note  the 
"  remainder,  to  which  add  the  fours  contained  in  the  same  number 
"  of  years  (less  one).  From  their  sum  deduct  twice  the  remainder 
"  formed  by  dividing  the  number  of  completed  centuries  by  4— 
"  the  result  is  the  Characteristic  Number  for  the  year  in  question. " 

As  an  example  let  us  take  the  year  1850;  what  is  the  Character- 
istic Number  for  that  year  % 


A»d    „  (-£-)„  =  ,  (Jl)p  .  4. 


Hence  N  =  1  +12  —  4  =  9  or  2;  the  Year  Letter  for  which  is 
of  course  B,  and  week-day  Tuesday.  Hence,  1st  January,  1850, 
was  on  Tuesday;  and  as  there  would  be  a  recurrence  of  this  order 
in  28  years  after,  the  first  day  of  1878  was  also  on  a  Tuesday. 

Having  shown  how  the  "  Year  Letter  n  may  be  determined,  the 
remaining  part  of  the  process  is  simple  enough.  Suppose  the  C  N 
to  be  N,  the  date  of  the  month  D;  then  the  week-day  for  any  date 
(in  ordinary  years)  in — 

January  is  found  from     ( = \ 

February  „  (^»±*)r 


Note.— If,  in  using  this  or  the  alternative  formula  for  N,  negative  results 
should  at  any  tune  be  obtained,  they  are  easily  rendered  positive  by 
adding  7  :  thus— 1  is  to  be  understood  as  +  6,  F,  or  Saturday. 


262  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

March  is  found  from        /N  +  D  +  2\ 


April  „  (^f^-5)r 

-    m 


June 


rr 

/N  4-  D  +  3\ 
V  7  h 

'*  »        (^  ? +  -\ 

August  „  (^ft-!X 

September  „  (-  -  —  ~  ±_  ^ 

October  „  ( j-±-  )r 

November  „  (     +  7  +  ~)r 

December  „  (N-+  ^4)r 

Where  the  construction  is  obvious.     Or,  collecting,  the  week-day 
formula)  arc  as  follows : — 

For  January  and  October,     ...         ...     ( **"    \ 

,    February,  March,  and  November,     ( = j 

,    April  and  July,  ...         ...         ...     ( _— *—  ) 

May  (N±J>\ 

T  /N  +  D  +  3\ 

'  '  \  7  )r 

,    .o.ugusu..    . . .         ...         ...         ...     i = i 


,    September  and  December,         ...     ( — —  - —     j 

For  leap-year  the  corresponding  formulae  are  as  follows : — 
January,  April,  and  July,     ...  ...     ( — +       +    \ 

February  and  August,  (^~^T  +~ 2) 

March  and  November,  (N±DjL?^ 


Mr.  James  Dicksos  ( 

May, 

June, 

September  and  December, 
October, 

The  following  table  exhibits  i 


:  Arew  Method,  <C-c. 


<*-^\ 

<"-^\ 

/N+D  +  5\ 
I         7         h 

m, 

a  condensed  form  all  these  rela- 


i 

a    is 

42 

2fl 

Mn 

Tn 

Wed 

Th 

Fr 

Sat.    Sun. 

•• 

*>    16 

I'll, 

Wmi 

i'h 

Vt 

Hat. 

3 

10     17 

*/4 

Al 

Wed 

I'h 

Kr 

Hat. 

Mo.    :To. 

4 

11     IS 

I'h 

Vr. 

%t, 

■Inr, 

Mo 

Tn.      Weil. 

12  '  19 

Yt 

Sat.     Suu. 

Vlo 

Pb 

W«l 

Th. 

(1 

13  i  20 

37 

Sat, 

Sun.    Mo. 

hi 

Wnri 

I'h 

ft. 

' 

14     21 

38 

Sun. 

Mo.    Tu. 

Wed. 

I'h. 

Vr. 

Sat. 

January,  October, 

A 

R 

n 

n 

F, 

V 

a 

S'.-pLulnUl1,  Lluucmbur, 

C! 

n 

R 

p 

ft 

A 

B 

Feb.,  March,  Nov...... 

F, 

p 

n 

A 

B 

n 

T> 

Ma 

B 

P 

APPLICATION : 

The  "Year  Letter"  having  been  found  from  Table  I.,  look  for 
the  same  letter  in  this  Table  in  the  line  opposite  the  given  month; 
run  the  eye  up  the  column  in  which  it  is  placed,  and  the  week- 
day will  be  found  opposite  the  particular  date. 

For  leap-years  employ  the  same  letter  in  January  and  February 
its  for  ordinary  years,  but  the  succeeding  letter  for  March  and  the 
remaining  months  of  the  year. 

Tables  I.  and  IT.  together  may  be  taken  as  a  Calendar  holding 
true  from  a.d.  1601  to  a.d.  5200,  and  approximately  true  (with  a 
deviation  of  less  than  a  day)  from  a.d.  1  to  a.d.  1600.  These 
might  conveniently  be  printed  on  the  same  card  (or  engraved  on 
the  same  plate),  and,  with  the  requisite  directions  for  their  use, 
would  not  take  up  much  more  space  than  an  ordinary  office 
calendar. 


264  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

The  following  will  serve  to  show  the  application  of  the  rules  and 
tables.     What  week-day  corresponds  to  31st  December,  2000? 

H.reH.(i«2)r  +  (»),_2(L»)r 

=       2+24—6 
=     20,  or  6,  rejecting  sevens. 
2000  being  a  leap-year,  we  next  use 

W  D   =   (^-^)r  =  (?-+-f-^)r  =  0. 

Hence  the  day  falls  on  a  Sunday. 

By  the  Tables.  Look  at  the  year  400  in  Table  I.  (2000  being 
in  the  same  position  as  400),  and  we  find  F.  But  beiug  a  leap- 
year,  we  use  G  for  December.  Looking  for  G  opposite  December, 
and  running  our  eye  up  the  column  until  we  are  in  a  line  with  31, 
we  see  the  day  to  be  a  Sunday. 

The  foregoing  will  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  method,  and  although 
proceeding  on  much  the  same  lines  as  the  old  one,  I  think  it  is  not 
unfair  to  claim  for  it,  that  it  is  much  more  simple  and  direct. 

JAS.  DICKSON. 
Glasgow,  6th  Nov.,  1878. 


ADDENDUM. 

Although  not  coming  strictly  within  the  scope  of  this  paper,  it 
has  been  suggested  that  there  would  be  an  advantage  in  showing 
the  applicability  of  the  method  to  past  Julian  dates.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  this  mode  of  treatment  of  the  subject  would  be  of 
considerable  interest,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  would  furnish  an 
excellent  additional  test  of  the  validity  of  the  method.  As  regards 
the  operation  nothing  can  be  simpler.  Bearing  in  mind  that  the 
dates  dealt  with  in  this  method  are  those  now  in  use,  all  we  have 
to  do  is  to  add  to  the  Julian  date  the  difference  in  "  style  "  for  the 
particular  century  in  which  the  date  is  placed,  and  then  proceed 
by  our  method  as  for  any  ordinary  date.  In  other  words — and  to 
put  it  in  the  form  of  a  maxim, — tlie  week-day  for  any  date  in 
"  Old  Style  "  is  the  same  as  tlvat  which  corresponds  to  tlie  equivalent 
date  in  "  New  Style."     This  is  a  result  of  some  interest,  as  it  shows 


Mr.  James  Dickson  on  a  New  Metliod,  <ic. 


265 


that,  while  Pope  Gregory  and  his  scientific  coadjutor,  Aloysius 
Lilius,  directed  the  suppression  of  the  ten  days  between  the  5th 
and  15th  of  October,  1582,  they  allowed  the  succession  of  week- 
days  to  remain  undisturbed,  so  that,  it  is  probable,  these  latter 
have  suffered  no  breach  of  continuity  since  the  very  earliest 
times. 

Now  the  allowances  for  difference  of  style  for  the  present  and 
past  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  are  well  known,  and  are  as 
follows : — 


Date. 

Difference. 

1800  to  1900 

+  12  Days. 

1700  „  1800 

11  „ 

1500  „  1700 

10  „ 

1400  „  1500 

9  „ 

1300  „  1400 

8  „ 

1100  ,,  1300 

7  „ 

1000  „  1100 

6  „ 

900  „  1000 

5  „ 

700  „   900 

4  „ 

600  „   700 

3  „ 

500  „   600 

2  „ 

300  „   500 

1  „ 

200  „   300 

0  „ 

100  „   200 

-  1  „ 

0  „   100 

2  „ 

T  have  not  been  able  to  test  all  these  differences  by  reference  to 
historical  events,  and  very  likely,  the  earlier  ones  are  to  be  received 
with  some  degree  of  caution.  I  have,  however,  had  quite  ample 
means  of  testing  the  accuracy  of  the  allowance  for  last  century 
for  dates  between  1700  and  1752,  up  to  which  latter  year  the  old 
style  continued  to  be  in  vogue.  The  means  I  refer  to  are  not  the 
dates  given  by  aoy  of  our  authors  of  battles  by  sea  and  land,  but  the 
admirable  series  of  papers  in  the  Steele-and- Addison  "  Spectator," 
each  headed  by  its  appropriate  week-day  and  date. 


As  an  example,  let  us  take  the  first  of  the  series — 

Thursday,  1st  March,  1710-1711. 

This  is  instructive,  even  as  it  stands,  as  it  shows  that  the  men  and 
philosophers  of  Queen   Anne's  time  had  not  yet  given  up  the 


266  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasyow. 

"  Supputation "  of  beginning  tho  year  on  the   25th   of  March. 
Taking  the  year,  then,  as  1711,  we  have  by  our  rule — 

-  -  m  *  (■?>.  - » (n 

=    4    +    2  —  2    =   4. 
W  D  (remembering  to  add  11  for  difference  of  style) 

=    (     +         7  )r  ~~  see  PaSe  262' 

=   4  —  i.e.,  Thursday. 

Culling  another  from  the  same  series,  wi>  find  the  following  to  be 
the  date  of  one  of  Addison's  finest  efforts — the  Vision  of  Mirzah  : — 

Saturday,  1st  September,  1711. 

Here  N   =    4. 

AndW  D   =    (4  +  (1   t  .">  +  4)r  _  see  page  2G2. 

=    6  —  i.e.,  Saturday. 

I  conclude  with  the  following,  which  has  reference  to  an  event 
at  once  both  of  local  and  national  importance — the  sitting  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  Glasgow  Cathedral  in  1638.  Baillie  gives 
the  day  and  date  of  the  first  sitting  sis 

Wednesday,  2\st  November,  1638. 

Now  21st  Nov.,  1638,  O.S.  =  1st  Dec.,  1638,  N.S. 

AndN  =  (»),  +    (*),_,(£),   =  3  +  9  =  12orr, 

W  D    =  (5  -7  +- )r  =  3  —  i.e.,  Wednesday. 

J.  D 


Mr.  Hon.  K.  Bromhead  oh  Purifying  Glasgow  Harbour,  <Lc.  207 


II. — On  Purifying  the  Glasgow  Harbour  and  rapidly  removing  the 
Sewage.     By  Horatio  K.  Bromhead,  A.K.I.B.A.,  Glasgow. 


[Paper  read  before  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow,  Dec.  4,  1878.] 

Til  at  the  various  details  of  this  paper  may  l>e  more  thoroughly 
understood,  it  is  thought  advisable  first  to  state  the  recommenda- 
tions that  are  made  from  them. 

Proposal, — It  is  proposed  to  form  an  exit  channel  from  Govan 
Ferry  to  the  Ayrshire  coast.  It  would  be  a  tidal  channel,  between 
high  and  low  water,  having  a  sectional  area  of  22  square  yards. 
At  Govan  it  would  have  gates,  so  that  the  harbour  water  could 
enter  the  exit  channel,  but  not  return  from  it  back  into  the  harbour. 
At  the  coast  it  would  have  gates,  so  that  the  contents  of  the  exit 
channel  could  run  out  into  the  sea  when  the  tide  was  down,  but 
the  sea  could  not  return  into  it.  In  this  way  a  great  quantity  of 
harbour  water  would  enter  the  exit  channel,  and  carry  the  sewage- 
with  it  into  the  sea  at  every  tide. 

The  leading  features  that  render  this  desirable  and  effective  are- 
as follows: — 

Sewage  Suj)j>ly. — The  sewage  pouring  into  the  harbour  is  com- 
posed of  half-a-gallon  of  excrement  to  forty-five  gallons  of  water, 
and  sundry  other  items,  from  7 1 0,000  people.  There  are  1 68£  gallons 
to  a  cubic  yard.  From  these  figures  it  appears  that  there  are 
200,000  cubic  yards  of  sewage  poured  into  the  harbour  every  day, 

Water  Supply. — The  river  water  supply  is  enormously  fluctuat- 
ing. The  smallest  quantity  I  have  measured  as  flowing  over  the 
weir  is  5,000  cubic  yards  per  day.  The  largest  quantity  is 
3,837,416  cubic  yards.  It  would  take  more  than  two  years  of 
this  smallest  quantity  to  come  to  as  much  as  the  one  day  of  large 
quantity.  There  have  been  days  with  a  great  deal  less  and  days 
with  a  great  deal  more.  The  large  overflows  are  of  brief  duration 
in  comparison  with  the  average  and  the  small  overflows.  Including 
for  small  streams,  there  appears  to  be  a  part  of  the  year  with 
200,000  cubic  yards  per  day  of  rain  or  river  water;  a  smaller  part 
of  the  year  with  50,000  cubic  yards  per  day;  and  exceptional  brief 
spates  of  enormous  quantity. 


268  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

River  Water  Movement  Seawards. — The  average  sectional  area  of 
Glasgow  harbour  is  about  1,200  square  yards.  Its  ordinary  daily 
incomings  are  200,000  cubic  yards  of  sewage  and  200,000  cubic 
yards  of  river  water.  The  mixture  consequently  has  at  Govan 
Ferry  a  movement  towards  the  sea  of  334  yards  per  day,  apart 
from  the  tidal  movement,  at  high-water.  At  low-water  the 
mixture  in  the  harbour  is  elongated  or  stretched  out  so  as  to  reach 
past  Elderslie,  and  at  the  following  high  tide  is  brought  back  to 
within  167  yards  of  the  starting  point.  In  other  words,  a  float  or 
leaf  placed  at  Govan  Ferry  at  high- water  would,  apart  from  chance 
interruption,  be  carried  seawards  for  six  hours,  and  then  be  brought 
back  to  within  167  yards  of  its  starting  point,  when  it  would  again 
commence  a  second  similar  to  and  fro  journey  with  the  next  tide, 
and  be  brought  back  to  within  334  yards  of  its  original  starting 
point  at  Govan  Ferry. 

When  the  ordinary  supply  of  river  water  is  reduced  in  dry 
weather  to  50,000  cubic  yards,  the  supply  of  sewage  and  water  is 
sufficient  to  displace  and  refill,  in  22  days,  the  whole  2£  miles  of 
harbour,  from  the  Weir  to  Govan  Ferry,  with  four-fifths  sewage 
and  one-fifth  water.  This  is  at  high-water,  and  at  low-water  the 
mixture  is  elongated,  and  at  the  following  high  tide  is  brought 
back  to  within  105  yards  of  its  starting  point — this  progress  being 
repeated  at  every  tide. 

Gliannel  Water  Movement  Seawards. — If  the  proposed  exit 
channel  were  made  without  any  gates,  it  would  fill  from  the  sea 
and  re-empty  into  the  sea  once  every  tide,  or  twice  a-day.  It 
holds  1,000,000  cubic  yards. 

If  the  proposed  gates  were  added  to  the  exit  channel,  some  very 
important  and  unexpected  results  would  occur.  On  a  day  when  the 
tide  is  high  at  12  o'clock  mid-day  at  Wemyss  Bay,  it  is  liigh  tide 
at  Glasgow  a  little  before  2  o'clock  p.m.,  or  two  hours  later — so  it 
takes  two  hours  for  the  tidal  wave  to  travel  that  distance.  If, 
therefore,  the  gates  at  the  coast  end  of  the  exit  channel  were  closed 
at  the  rising  of  the  tide,  and  the  gates  at  the » harbour  end  of 
the  exit  channel  open,  the  climax  of  the  tidal  wave  that  left  the 
coast  at  12  mid-day  would  reach  the  harbour  at  Glasgow  at  nearly 
2  p.m.,  and,  passing  down  the  exit  channel,  would  only  reach  the 
coast  end  two  hours  later,  or  at  4  o'clock  p.m.,  when  the  tide  at  the 
coast  was  approaching  low-water,  and  would  rush  into  the  sea 
through  the  opened  gates  with  great  freedom  and  velocity. 

The  ingoing  of  the  harbour  water  into  the  exit  channel  would  also 


Mr.  Hor.  K.  Bromhead  on  Purifying  Glasgow  Harbour,  &c.  269 

have  a  special  velocity.  This  is  readily  illustrated  by  comparing  its 
incoming  with  the  incoming  of  the  sea  into  a  river.  When  the  water 
entering  the  mouth  of  a  river  is  at  its  greatest  height  or  bulk,  then 
the  speed  of  ingoing  is  slowing  and  almost  stationary,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  turning  of  the  tide.  In  the  exit  channel  this  would 
not  be  so,  because  there  is  no  return  of  the  tide,  it  being  prevented 
by  the  gates.  When  the  water  entering  the  exit  channel  is  at  its 
greatest  bulk,  then  the  speed  of  ingoing  is  at  its  greatest  velocity, 
and  only  just  commencing  to  be  reduced. 

Another  interesting  illustration  of  the  increased  speed  of  the 
exit  channel  is  obtained  by  comparing  it  with  the  speed  of  the 
river  in  the  matter  of  continuity.  The  river  has  considerable 
speed,  but  it  is  obtained  under  the  very  great  disadvantage  of 
having  its  direction  changed  four  times  a-day  into  a  motion  in  the 
opposite  direction.  The  exit  channel  has  no  such  reverse  action, 
consequently  the  impetus  of  each  wave  goes  on  until  it  has  ex- 
pended itself. 

Diluting  and  Purifying. — When  the  ordinary  supply  of  river 
water  is  reduced  in  summer  dry  weather  to  50,000  cubic  yards,  the 
harbour  becomes  in  22  days  filled  with  four-fifths  sewage  and  one- 
fifth  water,  and  there  is  produced  the  well-known  extra-offensive- 
ness,  which  is  thus  shown  to  be  the  result  of  a  want«of  dilution, 
soirietimes  aggravated  by  increase  of  temperature. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  occasional  spates  from  heavy 
rain-falls,  bringing  3,837,400  cubic  yards  of  river  water  per  day. 
Of  course  on  such  occasions  there  is  still  the  uniform  quantity  of 
200,000  cubic  yards  of  sewage  per  day.  A  day  and  a  half  of  such 
weather  brings  enough  of  the  united  supply  to  fill  the  whole 
harbour  in  the  proportion  of  1  sewage  to  19  of  water.  On  these 
brief  occasions  it  is  observable  that  the  harbour  is  not  noxious  or 
offensive.  We  have  here  the  information  that  the  sewage  and 
water  going  away  in  the  exit  channel  in  proportion  of  1  in  20 
would  be  correspondingly  inoffensive. 

It  is  not  at  first  easy  to  see  the  possibility  of  water  dilution 
being  successful  in  rendering  the  excrement  inoffensive.  The 
limited  quantity  of  pure  water  that  we  at  present  add  to  the 
excrement  produces  sewage  which  is  grossly  offensive.  But 
sewage  does  not  disprove  the  possibility  of  there  being  a  zero,  or 
degree  of  attenuated  dilution,  above  which  offensiveness  is  ob- 
servable, and  below  which  offensiveness  does  not  exist.  This  is 
illustrated  by  a  spate  in  the  river.    River  water  is  loaded  ^\\tam\>A. 


270  PhOowpkiad  Society  of  Gkugow. 

and  earth — a  capital  deodorizer.  The  common  water  which  is 
implied  and  called  into  requisition  by  this  scheme  has.  provided 
that  it  is  supplied  fresh  and  untainted  and  in  sufficient  quantity, 
very  valuable,  though  limited,  qualifications  for  diluting  sewage 
and  rendering  it  inoffensive.  The  mixture  referred  to  as  sewage 
is  composed  of  one  day  s  deposit,  which  is  half-a-gallon  of  excre- 
ment to  45  gallons  of  water.  This  is  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  90. 
It  therefore  follows  that  the  20  times  further  dilution  of  the  exit- 
channel  Is  a  mixture  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  1800,  the  greater 
part  of  which  enormous  dilution  is  common  water,  with  a  small 
quantity  of  earth  or  mud  and  air  in  it  Certainly,  it  is  quite  true 
that  the  amount  of  earth  and  air  is  very  small ;  but  so  also  is  the 
amount  of  sewage,  and  the  earth  mav  often  be  as  much  as  the 
sewage.  This  is  having  the  advantages  of  the  dry  earth  system 
combined  with  the  water  carriage  system,  without  the  disadvantages 
of  either. 

These  Propositions  are  formulated : — 

1.  Common  water  lias  the  power  of  deodorizing  and  precipitating 
a  certain  very  small  quantity  of  sewage.  This  mixture  is  called  a 
deadened  solution,  its  zero  varying  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
water. 

2.  Such  a  deadened  solution  cannot  deodorize  any  further 
quantity  of  sewage,  because  the  slight  power  of  its  water  is  ex- 
hausted; consequently  a  further  addition  of  sewage  produces 
offcnsiveness. 

3.  The  addition  of  the  requisite  quantity  and  quality  of  water 
acts  upon  the  excess  of  sewage  and  reproduces  inoffensiveness. 

The  proposed  exit  channel  would  dilute  the  sewage  in  20  times 
its  quantity  of  water :  or  it  would  dilute  its  excrement  in  1800 
times  its  bulk  of  water.  This  mixture  would  be  much  more  fresh 
and  pure  than  the  stagnant  water  of  a  canal.  In  fact,  the  dilution 
proposed  in  the  exit  channel  does  now  occur  to  the  sewage  after 
it  passes  Greenock,  and  does  produce  a  tolerably  satisfactory  result, 
that  enables  it  to  l>c  said  that  the  water  of  the  exit  channel 
would  be  absolutely  inoffensive,  and  perfectly  suitable  for  jK)uring 
into  the  sea  without  a  shadow  of  complaint  against  it 

Sewage  has  been  taken  out  of  the  sewers,  and  diluted  in  ten 

times  its  quantity  of  uncontaminated  river  water,  and  the  result 

found  to  l>e  immediate  deodorization  and  the  precipitation  of  the 

sewage  within  one  hour,  the  liquor  becoming  clear  and  bright. 

Speed  of  Removal. — The  sewage  in  this  attenuated  dilution  is 


Mr.  Hor.  K.  Bromhead  on  Purifying  Glasgow  Harbour,  <Scc.  271 

taken  away  in  the  exit  channel  500  times  faster  than  it  is  at 
present  between  Glasgow  and  Dumbarton. 

The  Accumulation  of  Sewage. — In  the  river  down  to  Dumbarton 
there  are  118,000,000  cubic  yards  of  sewage  diluted  with  water, 
or  water  diluted  with  sewage,  it  is  impossible  to  say  which. 

Its  Removal. — The  exit  channel  removes  4,000,000  cubic  yards 
per  day.  This  is  at  the  rate  of  removing  the  contents  of  nearly  a 
mile  of  the  harbour  every  day,  or  nearly  half-a-inile  at  every  tide. 
It  therefore  follows  that  the  removal  of  the  accumulation  in  the 
river  is  only  a  question  of  so  many  days. 

Connection  with  present  Drains. — When  the  accumulation  of  the 
river  has  been  removed,  the  exit  channel  would  commence  its  per- 
manent work  only. 

Scheme  A.  If  the  sewage  were  still  permitted  to  bleed  into  the 
harbour,  its  contents  would  be  kept  by  the  exit  channel  in  the 
proportion  of  1  sewage  to  20  of  water.  The  rapid  removal  would 
prevent  any  further  contamination  from  taking  place. 

Scheme  B.  If  the  sewage  of  the  south  side  of  the  river  were 
delivered  into  the  exit  channel,  and  only  the  rest  of  the  sewage 
allowed  to  bleed  into  the  harbour,  its  contents  would  average 
1  sewage  to  26  of  water. 

Scheme  C.  Undoubtedly  it  would  be  additionally  more  perfect, 
and  quite  easy,  to  also  lead  all  the  north  side  sewage  along  the 
quay,  diluting,  and  assisting  its  progress  by  the  inlet  of  harbour 
water,  and  carrying  it  across  under  the  river  at  the  Green,  and 
into  the  exit  channel,  which,  being  at  low-water,  would  avoid  the 
expensive  difficulties  and  pumping  that  interfere  with  crossing 
the  river  with  ordinary  drainage,  and  then  delivering  into  ordinary 
high-level  drainage. 

Advantages  of  the  Scheme. — The  existing  sewers  do  not  require 
any  alteration. 

Pumping,  clarifying,  farming,  and  such  like  offensive  and 
injurious  operations,  are  not  required. 

It  is  self-acting,  and  does  not  require  heavy  working  expenses. 

It  does  not  involve  the  passage  of  offensive  matters  through  any 
locality,  or  the  delivery  of  anything  offensive  anywhere. 

Its  capacity  can  be  readily  enlarged  or  supplemented  should  such 
an  improbable  event  become  desirable. 

Every  populous  place  in  the  neighbourhood  could  at  any  time 
have  its  sewage  removed  by  the  exit  channel,  and  contribute  a 
share  of  its  cost. 


272  Philosophical  Society  oj  Glasgow. 

QUESTIONS. 

Sir  James  Bad? — What  would  be  the  width  and  the  depth 
of  the  proposed  exit  channel)  Also,  how  is  it  proposed  to  get 
over  the  high  ground  above  Greenock  \ 

Mr.  Bromhead — The  sectional  area  is  22  square  yards,  which 
is  equal  to  4  yards  by  5  J  yards.  It  passes  Greenock  and  Port- 
Glasgow  by  means  of  a  tunnel,  and  there  are  several  other  short 
tunnels.  The  exit  channel  may  be  covered  or  uncovered,  as  most 
convenient 

Councillor  W.  R.  W.  Smith — What  is  the  length  of  the 
channel  ? 

Mr.  Bromhead — Twentv-five  miles. 

Councillor  Reid — What  is  the  level  of  the  exit  channel  as 
compared  with  the  bottom  of  the  Clyde? 

Mr.  B  ROM  head — The  bottom  of  the  exit  channel  would  be  two 
or  three  feet  below  low- water.  Between  the  channel  and  the 
bottom  of  the  harbour  will  probably  be  10  feet. 

A  Member — That  being  so,  how  do  you  propose  to  cross  the 
river  with  the  north  side  sewage  1 

Mr.  Bromhead — The  crossing  of  the  river  would  be  in  the 
solid  rock  above  the  weir.  East  of  the  weir  the  bed  of  the  river  is 
considerably  above  the  low-water  level  of  the  harbour.  There  is 
what  may  be  called  rather  an  amusing  joke  about  the  weir.  It  is 
to  be  removed,  under  the  impression  that  the  tide  will  wear  away 
the  sandy  bed  of  the  river  east  of  the  weir,  and  so  a  fine  scour  of 
the  river  will  thereafter  be  the  result.  But  there  is  solid  rock  in 
the  bed  of  the  river  east  of  the  weir,  and  its  highest  point  comes  to 
alK)ut  2  feet  6  inches  below  the  weir,  or  perhaps  1 8  feet  above  the 
bf*d  of  the  harbour.  I  propose  to  cut  the  cross  sewer  into  this 
rock. 

Sir  James  Bain — The  rapidity  of  exit  would  not,  I  think,  be 
very  great.     How  do  you  propose  to  dredge  the  deposit? 

Mr.  Bromhead — I  do  not  expect  much  deposit,  for  that  I  think 

only  occurs  in  the  river  when  there  is  no  motion  during  the  change 

of  the  tide;  and  there  is  no  such  change  in  the  direction  of  the 

current  in  the  exit  channel     However,  there  will  always  be  a 

power  in  reserve,  in  spring-tides  of  extra  height,  to  give  a  special 


Question  on  Mr.  Bromheads  Paper.  273 

flush.    Should  that  not  be  sufficient,  the  sludge  must  be  dredged  in 
the  usual  way. 

Note. — Sewage  in  its  early  stages  floats,  and  the  exit  channel 
takes  it  away  and  into  the  sea  within  a  few  hours  of  its  formation. 
This  is  altogether  different  from  the  condition  of  the  river,  where 
it  is  dragged  to  and  fro  by  the  tide  for  many  weeks,  until  it  falls. 

The  Hon.  Lord  Provost — What  is  the  proportion  of  sewage 
in  the  water? 

Mr.  Bromhead — 1  excrement  to  1800  water. 

The  Hon.  Lord  Provost — There  must  be  a  serious  error  there. 
In  his  scheme,  Mr.  Bateman's  calculation  was  56,000,000  gallons 
for  twenty-four  hours. 

Mr.  Bromhead — There  is  no  error.  The  200,000  cube  yards 
of  sewage  is  rather  more  than  the  amount  Mr.  Bateman  calculates 
upon.  Only  there  is  this  difference  in  my  favour, — his  scheme 
must  allow  for  a  large  quantity  of  rain  water.  This  increases  the 
size  of  his  pipes.  But  such  allowance  is  not  required  for  my 
scheme. 

Note. — Mr.  Bateman  (p.  8)  estimates  the  sewage  at  32,305,000 
gallons,  or  191,700  cube  yards.  On  the  following  page  of  his 
Report  he  makes  allowance  for  burns  and  land-water,  for  trade 
supply  of  water,  and  for  the  extra  size  required  because  the  house 
and  sewage  supply  is  not  equally  distributed  over  the  twenty-four 
hours;  thus  bringing  up  the  total  to  56,830,000  gallons,  or  337,270 
cube  yards.  This  increase  is  not  sewage.  In  one  sense  it  there- 
fore follows  that  the  principle  of  Mr.  Bateman's  scheme  has  a 
disadvantage  of  75  per  cent,  in  the  matter  of  sewage  capacity. 

Sir  James  Bain — Mr.  Bateman  and  others  have  calculated  that 
when  the  weir  is  removed,  it  would  admit  of  fifty  acres  of  addi- 
tional water  eight  feet  deep.  How  will  that  affect  the  state  of  the 
river,  and  also  your  scheme] 

Mr.  Bromhead — Those  who  have  so  calculated  have  overlooked, 
or  not  known  of,  the  rock  in  the  bed  of  the  river. 

Note.  — The  removal  of  the  weir  will  not  bring  any  more  river 
water  down  the  river.  Neither  will  it  bring  more  fresh  sea  water 
up  the  river.  The  extra  space  would  be  filled  with  sewage  mixture 
in  a  few  days.  Consequently  the  result  would  be  a  threefold 
nuisance.  First,  there  would  be  increased  capacity  for  holding 
and  retaining  the  mixture  of  sewage  and  rain  water  that  the  city 
Vol.  XL— No.  2.  T 


274  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

and  tbe  water-shed  supply ;  so  that  the  sewage  would  be  a  longer 
time  than  it  now  is  in  getting  beyond  the  harbour  to  the  wider 
lower  part  of  the  river,  where  it  now  becomes  further  diluted  by 
the  water  of  the  river  Leven,  and  precipitated  by  the  sea  water. 
Second,  the  delay  would  produce  more  offensivonoss  and  sewer  gas 
and  more  precipitation  that  would  have  to  be  dredged  away. 
Third,  the  whole  nuisance  would  thereby  be  extended  more  to  the 
east  end  of  the  city,  without  the  faintest  further  dilution  or 
improvement  to  the  harbour  mixture,  but  to  its  delay  and 
detriment. 

Apart  from  the  exit  channel,  there  are  many  advantages  in 
retaining  the  weir.  Tt  would  be  best  to  put  a  new  one  3  feet 
higher,  so  that  no  harbour  water  could  get  over  it  to  pollute  the 
east  end  of  the  city.  Then  the  raised  river  would  be  a  splendid 
improvement  to  Glasgow  Green,  and  a  valuable  fresh-water  area 
for  boating  and  recreation.  The  exit  channel  does  away  with 
every  reason  for  removing  the  weir. 

Sir  James  Bain — If  the  exit  channel  is  commenced  at  Govan. 
does  it  not  strike  you  that,  from  that  eastwards,  the  harl>our  will 
be  no  better  than  it  is  now? 

Mr.  Bromhead — Govan  Ferry  is  chosen  as  the  chief  point  of 
exit,  expressly  because  the  high  tide  contents  of  the  harbour 
would,  by  the  tidal  movement,  be  carried  to  and  fro  past  the 
mouth  of  the  exit  channel  twice  every  day,  and  thus  be  kept 
quite  fresh. 

Note. — This  would  produce  much  the  same  result  as  if  there 
were  no  tidal  movement,  and  it  were  possible  to  move  the  mouth 
of  the  exit  channel  slowly  up  and  down  the  harbour  twice  a  day, 
abstracting  from  each  part  in  turn,  and  removing  nearly  the  whdle 
contents  every  day.  The  removed  quantity  would  be  made  up  by 
the  river  water  coming  over  the  weir,  supplemented  in  dry  weather 
by  water  coming  up  the  river  from  the  sea. 

The  Hon.  Lord  Provost — The  area  of  Mr.  Batcman's  high- 
level  pipe  is  60  to  100  square  feet,  you  say  the  level  of  high  tide  at 
the  coast  is  2  feet  6  inches  lower  than  in  the  harbour.  Then, 
suppose  you  had  a  fall  of  8  feet,  that  would  be  10  feet.  Mr. 
Bateman  has  an  artificial  fall  of  10  feet  between  Parti ck  and 
Dalmuir,  and,  of  course,  there  would  be  a  greater  velocity  in  that 
sewer  than  in  yours.  I  do  not  see  that  the  power  you  indicate  to 
four  exit  channel  is  possible. 


Questions  on  Mr.  Bromhead's  Paper.  275 

Mr.  Bromhead — The  answer  is  very  simple,  yet  requires  study 
to  be  understood.  Mr.  Bateman  is  using  the  power  of  gravity  for 
motion.  This  scheme  is  worked  by  tidal  power.  (Applausa) 
That  is  to  say,  by  the  power  of  the  moon,  or  rather,  astronomically. 

Note. — Hydraulic  tables  of  velocities  and  heads  of  water  are 
made  from  the  facts  of  non-tidal  streams  and  tubes,  and  not  from 
tidal  movement.  If  the  erroneous  attempt  is  made  to  apply  them 
to  tidal  movement,  the  absurd  result  is  obtained  that  there  cannot 
be  the  tidal  movement  which  is  known  to  exist  in  the  Clyde.  I 
am  not  aware  of  any  tables  for  tidal  movement,  and  analogous 
inference  must  be  taken  into  consideration  for  this  exit  channel. 
As  one  instance,  we  find  that  the  Avon  fills  to  a  height  of  more 
than  20  feet,  and  becomes  empty  again  in  about  three  hours. 
Thirteen  miles  up  from  the  mouth  of  that  river  the  tide  rises  18 
inches  higher  than  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  that  altitude  is 
attained  a  few  minutes  after  high  tide  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
which  is  at  right  angles  to  the  Severn,  from  which  it  fills,  and 
cannot,  owing  to  the  formation  of  the  mouth  of  the  Avon,  receive 
any  impetus  therefrom.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  the 
whole  tidal  question.  Enough  for  present  purposes  to  mention 
that  the  exit  channel  contains  1,000,000  cube  yards.  It  requires 
no  intricate  calculation  or  skill  to  see  that  the  exit  channel  would 
at  least  fill  and  become  enipty  once  every  tide,  or  twice  a  day,  by 
gravitation  alone.  This  gives  2,000,000  cube  yards,  or  a  dilution 
of  ten  to  one  of  sewage;  a  dilution  that  has  been  experimented 
with,  and  found  perfectly  deodorized,  and  much  superior  to 
ordinary  canal  water.  The  further  capacity  of  the  exit  channel, 
by  a  careful  examination,  keeping  in  view  the  arguments  under 
heading  "  Channel  Movement  Seawards,"  can  be  scientifically 
ascertained  to  be  more  than  what  is  indicated  in  the  paper. 
Any  unskilled  person  can  see  by  those  arguments  on  velocity, 
that  there  must  be  a  considerable  increase  in  quantity  over  the 
1,000,000  cube  yards  each  tide  (the  one  in  ten  dilution),  although 
that  increase  is  not  in  the  least  necessary  for  establishing  the 
validity  of  the  scheme. 

The  Hon.  Lord  Provost — Your  Scheme  C  involves  taking  the 
sewage  of  the  north  side  of  the  river  across  the  river  opposite  the 
Green.  Are  you  aware  that  Mr.  Bateman  requires  three  pumping 
engines  on  the  north  side  to  do  that? 

Mr.  Bromhead — Quite  so.     That  scheme  is  under  great  diffi- 


276  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

culties  and  disadvantages  in  pumping  to  higher  levels,  which  are 
not  required  in  my  scheme. 

The  Hon.  Lord  Provost — He  only  requires  to  take  it  to  a 
higher  level  on  the  north  side  as  near  the  roadway  as  possible, 
even  with  all  that  pumping. 

This  concluded  the  questioning. 

The  President — I  am  sure  we  are  extremely  indebted  to  Mr. 
Bromhead  for  his  paper,  and  our  first  duty  is  to  give  him  a  cordial 
vote  of  thanks.     (Applausa) 

We  shall  now  take  the  Discussion. 


Discussion  on  Mr.  Bromhead's  Paper. 

Mr.  Schuman — I  think  if  sea  water  were  pumped  to  higher 
levels,  and  used  to  flush  the  sewers,  and  a  quantity  of  it  added  to 
the  ordinary  channel,  the  nuisance  would  be  to  a  great  extent 
abated,  or  altogether  abolished. 

Mr.  Coleman — Sea  water  contains  a  solution  of  other  substances 
and  salts  liable  to  decompose.  From  a  chemical  point  of  view,  I 
am  afraid  that  Mr.  Schuman's  suggestion  would  not  be  of  any  use. 
The  mixture  of  sea  water  and  sewage  would  be  more  likely  to  be  a 
nuisance  than  a  mixture  of  fresh  water  and  sewage. 

Mr.  Moore,  C.E.,  having  been  invited  by  the  President  to 
express  his  opinions,  said  the  discussion  had  gone  over  such  an 
extensive  range  that,  rather  than  attempt  to  discuss  any  of  the 
arguments,  he  would  prefer  bringing  up  a  fresh  paper  reviewing 
Mr.  Bromhead's  scheme. 

Professor  Jas.  Thomson — I  would  say  that  under  this  plan  it 
would  be  by  gravitation  the  water  would  flow  down  the  exit 
channel.  I  cannot  enter  into  a  comparison  of  the  scheme  with  any 
others  that  have  been  proposed;  but  such  a  scheme  as  that  now 
laid  before  us  is  one  certainly  well  worthy  of  being  considered — I 
mean  of  being  considered  and  investigated,  by  procuring  estimates 
and  so  forth.  (Applause.)  There  is  nothing  unreasonable  in  the 
idea  of  having  a  current  up  a  large  channel,  and  a  current  of  less 
pure  water  down  a  smaller  channel  artificially  made.     (Applause.) 


Discussion  on  Mr.  Bromhead's  Paper.  277 

Mr.  Honeyman — I  have  never  been  a  strong  advocate  for  the 
purification  of  the  Clyde.  It  has  never  been  proved  that  the  river 
did  the  slightest  particle  of  harm  to  tho  inhabitants  who  live  near 
it  It  seems,  however,  that  our  Authorities  may  be  forced  to  do 
something  expensive  to  satisfy  laws  that  have  recently  been  passed. 

But  there  is  no  necessity  for  anything  of  the  sort,  and  these 
schemes  should  be  of  such  a  character  as  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  case  only  as  far  as  the  law  requires  them  to  be  met.  I 
think,  as  Professor  Thomson  has  said,  that  Mr.  Bromhead's  scheme 
is  worthy  of  being  carefully  considered.  (Applause.)  The  float 
shows  that  anything  in  suspension  in  the  water  is  carried  back- 
wards and  forwards  in  the  tides,  and  takes  a  number  of  days  before 
it  reaches  Dalmuir. 

The  Hon.  Lord  Provost — I  think  that  the  area  of  the  exit 
channel  is  just  about'  three  times  the  area  of  Mr.  Bateman's  largest 
sewer,  and  that  it  would  only  admit  of  two  volumes  of  salt  water 
to  one  of  sewage.  I  feel  that  a  dilution  only  to  that  extent  would 
be  a  nuisance  to  the  sea-side,  and  would  not  be  permitted.  I 
believe  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary  to  purify  to  a  very  consider- 
able extent  before  you  put  it  there ;  and  if  that  is  so,  I  think  the 
most  economical  plan  is  to  have  it  purified  as  near  Glasgow  as 
possible,  and  return  it  to  the  river  as  soon  as  possible.  I  think 
evidence  bears  out  that  any  injury  that  is  done  is  done  before  the 
sewage  is  emptied  into  the  Clyde  at  all  (Applause.)  Of  course 
it  is  unfortunately  not  what  is  necessary  that  we  have  to  deal 
with.  We  have  an  Act  which  I  do  not  think  is  necessary.  I 
think  we  should  aim  at  some  modification  of  that  Act  for  such  a 
tidal  river  as  the  Clyde. 

Our  President,  I  think,  would  tell  us  that  if  we  are  obliged  to 
resort  to  pumping,  we  shall  perhaps  increase  the  injury  at  present 
resulting  to  Glasgow  from  this  sewage. 

Mr.  Dunlop — I  think  a  word  has  to  be  said  in  favour  of  Mr. 
Bromhead's  scheme  that  has  not  yet  been  said  by  any  speaker. 
By  Mr.  Bromhead's  scheme  it  is  not  proposed  to  take  the  sewage, 
except  in  a  diluted  form,  down  through  this  exit  channel;  there- 
fore what  goes  through  will  be  a  comparatively  harmless  class  of 
sewage,  inasmuch  as  it  will  be  the  river  water  in  its  contaminated 
condition,  which  is  comparatively  pure.  Then  this  exit  channel  will 
be  closed  at  the  outer  end  when  the  tide  is  advancing,  and  open  at 
the  Glasgow  end  when  its  own  bed  is  empty  and  the  harl 


278  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasyow. 

water  at  its  highest.  You  have  therefore  an  empty  channel,  and 
a  power  which  is  simply  gravitation  operating  in  the  carrying  of 
this  head  of  water  down  through  this  empty  exit  channel.  There 
is  a  good  deal  to  bo  said  in  favour  of  the  system.  The  only 
difficulty  that  occurred  to  me  at  first  was,  that  when  the  floodgates 
were  suddenly  oj)ened  there  would  be  a  current  so  serious  as  greatly 
to  disturb  the  regular  current  of  the  river,  and  probably  somewhat 
disturb  the  navigation. 

Mr.  Bromuead — The  gates  would  not  be  suddenly  opened  at 
high  tide;  but  opened  from  the  commencement  of  the  rise  of  the 
tide. 

Mr.  Dunlop. — There  is  some  thine  in  the  .scheme  that  is  worth  v 
of  consideration,  and  it  has  not  so  many  objections  as  at  first  sight 
naturally  arise.  It  is  a  very  important  engineering  question  that 
is  discussed,  and  it  should  be  well  considered  by  those  who  art* 
able  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  scheme  from  an  engineering 
point  of  view. 

Dr.  Wallace — I  think  that  by  Mr.  Bromhead's  Schemes  A 
and  B,  the  bed  of  the  river  at  the  harbour  would  still  be  to  some 
extent  a  cesspool.  It  would  be  some  10  feet  below  the  exit 
channel,  and  collect  a  considerable  portion  of  sedimentary  matter. 
That  is  a  great  evil.  At  present,  in  the  summer  at  least,  that 
sediment  throws  off  bubbles  of  gas,  and  I  think  it  would  still  do  so 
if  Mr.  Bromhead'8  scheme  was  carried  out  without  intercepting 
the  sewers. 

I  am  afraid  Parliament  would  not  sanction  anv  scheme  to  take 
the  sewage  to  any  other  place. 

The  President — That  last  jxrint  referred  to  by  Dr.  Wallace  is 
of  considerable  importance.  If  I  remember  rightly  there  have 
been  cases  where  the  application  of  towns  to  deliver  sewage 
through  private  property  has  been  decided  by  the  English  Courts 
against  them. 

Mr.  Buomiikad  expressed  his  thanks  for  the  frank  and  kindly 
criticisms,  and  said  he  hoped  it  was  not  rude  to  suggest,  most 
respectfully,  that  the  scheme  was  not  capable  of  being  fairly  appre- 
hended and  criticised  offhand,  and  that  he  trusted  it  would  receive 
a  careful  consideration,  when  he  had  no  doubt  that  all  objection* 
would  be  found  to  be  groundless. 


Discussion  on  Mr.  Bromhkad's  Paper.  279 

Note. — There  appears  to  be  a  much  overlooked  and  very  im- 
portant difference  between  treating  sewage  in  its  ordinary  and  in 
a  much  diluted  state.  My  experiments  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
such  sewage  as  that  of  Glasgow,  diluted  with  river  water  and 
minutely  subdivided  as  it  would  be  by  the  grinding  action  of  the  25 
miles  of  exit  channel,  would  receive  sea  water  without  any  resulting 
oftensiveness,  and  precipitate.  Nature's  chemical  laws  are  strongly 
antagonistic  to  keeping  sewage  or  excrement  undiluted.  Artificial 
chemistry  appears  to  have  been  unable  to  deal  with  sewage,  or  to 
increase  or  give  sufficient  power  to  water  to  overcome  it  in  its 
ordinary  or  condensed  state,  chiefly  from  the  reason  of  not  being 
able  to  get  at  the  particles,  owing  to  their  want  of  subdivision.  It 
appears  to  me  that  sewage  must  be  diluted  to  the  capacity  of  the 
water.  Sewer  gas  is  an  indication  of  decomposition  going  on  with 
excessive  intensity,  and  implying  a  need  of  more  dilution.  Sewage 
added  to  nine  times  its  bulk  of  untainted  river  water  produces  a 
mixture  that  precipitates  within  half-an-hour  of  being  left  at  rest, 
and  leaves  a  bright  clear  water  in  which  the  eye  and  nose  and 
permangunate  of  potash  cannot  detect  any  trace  of  sewage. 

There  are  those  who  think  that  mixing  sewage  with  earth,  or 
returning  it  to  earth  in  some  way,  is  the  proper  course,  and  that 
theory  is  true  natural  chemistry.  But,  practically,  it  involves  an 
impossible  amount  of  labour  and  steam-power  to  disintegrate  and 
mix,  without  which  failure  has  invariably  been  the  result. 

The  necessity  of  the  perpetual  exertion  of  enormous  artificial 
power  is  an  overwhelming  fault  in  any  scheme. 

The  contention  here  is  that  the  exit  channel  must  unavoidably 
do  all  the  labour  in  the  only  true  natural  way,  and  must  unavoid- 
ably disintegrate  and  deodorize,  and  that  the  sea  water  must 
unavoidably  precipitate  the  extreme  dilution  directly  it  is  delivered 
into  the  sea. 


[Relative  Annual  Expenses. 


280 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


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Mr.  John  Ferguson  on  Eleven  Centuries  of  CJiemistry.    281 


III. — Eleven  Centuries  of  Chemistry.     Address  on  resigning  the 

Presidency   of  the   Chemical    Section   of  the  Philosophical 

Society.      By  John  Ferguson,   Esq.,    M.A.,  Professor   of 
Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Glasgow. 


[Read  before  the  Chemical  Section,  November  11,  1878.] 


In  accordance  with  a  promise  I  made  at  the  close  of  last  Session, 
and  seeing  that  I  shall  not  have  again  an  opportunity  of  addressing 
the  Section  officially,  I  am  now  desirous  of  presenting  to  your 
notice  a  few  reflections  on  the  science  more  especially  cultivated 
here,  in  continuation  and  conclusion  of  those  which  I  have  already 
brought  before  you.* 

I  have  been  reminded  by  a  look  cast  on  chronological  tables 
that  this  year,  1878,  is  the  centenary  of  the  birth  of  two  of  the 
most  eminent  discoverers  of  modern  times,  as  well  as  that  the  year 
'78  has  been  more  or  less  notable  in  the  byegone  annals  of 
Chemistry.  The  title  or  idea  of  my  present  Address  is,  therefore, 
"  Eleven  Centuries  of  Chemistry." 

Eleven  hundred  from  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-eight  leaves 
us  with  778.  I  begin  with  that  date,  and  ask  what  was  known 
of  Chemistry,  and  who  were  the  chemists  ? 

778.  If  chronology  is  to  be  depended  on,  a  couple  of  years 
earlier,  that  is,  in  776-7,  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  mediaeval 
chemists  had  died.  He  was  the  first — because,  although  he  him- 
self speaks  of  the  ancients,  meaning  thereby  his  forerunners, 
nothing  is  known  of  those  older  chemists.  He  was  the  greatest — 
because  his  works  have  completely  eclipsed  or  superseded  those  of 
his  predecessors ;  because  he  had  the  greatest  reputation  among 
his  .contemporaries;  because  his  works  were  numerous  and 
important,  his  knowledge  extensive  and  accurate,  his  theoretical 
views  far-reaching,  his  practice,  based  on  his  facts  and  theories, 
logical  and  successful.  His  renown  has  come  to  us  at  the  present 
unabated,  he  is  quoted  in  every  period  until  now,  and  he  is 
referred  to  in  the  most  recent  text-books  on  pure  and  applied 
Chemistry.     His  science  is  safe  to  be  known  to  all  future  genera- 

*  Proceedings  of  the  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow,  vol.  x.,  p.  27 
and  p.  368. 


282  PhilosopJUcal  Society  of  Glasgow. 

tions.  This  chemist  then,  whom,  though  dead  by  777,  we  may 
yet  regard  as  the  representative  of  778,  or  of  Chemistry  in  the 
eighth  century,  and  the  starting-point  of  our  reflections,  was  called 
Dschabir,  or  more  commonly  Geber. 

Hardly  anything  is  known  of  liis  life.  He  was  an  Arab,  born 
at  Tarsus  according  to  one  account,  was  a  pupil  of  Dschaafer  ess- 
Sadik,  whose  works  he  edited,  and  was  himself  the  reputed  author  of 
a  vast  number  of  works  on  almost  every  department  of  learning. 
He  is  best  known,  however,  by  his  writings  on  Chemistry,  which 
have  descended  to  us  in  Latin  translations  made  probably  during 
the  Middle  Ages  from  the  Arabic.  These  translations  were  pub- 
lished at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  and  during  the  seventeenth 
centuries,  and,  from  the  Latin,  versions  were  made  into  English, 
French,  and  German.  It  was  in  1678,  just  two  hundred  years 
ago,  that  the  English  translation  appeared,  to  which  I  shall  refer 
in  due  course. 

From  my  having  called  Geber  the  greatest  of  mediaeval  chemists, 
I  may  have  led  you  to  expect  something  very  wonderful,  but  it  is 
possible  you  may  be  disappointed  when  the  extent  of  his  know- 
ledge and  scope  of  his  science  are  put  before  you.  Let  me  give  you 
a  short  summary  of  both. 

In  his  writings,  then,  Geber  describes  gold,  silver,  copper,  tin, 
lead,  and  iron,  and  mercury.  The  first  six  were  recognized  as 
metals;  their  alloys  were  known,  and  their  amalgams.  That  some 
of  these  metals  could  be  converted  into  earthy  powders  by  burning 
in  the  air,  as  well  as  by  other  processes,  was  also  known.  The 
oxides  best  known  were  of  copper,  iron,  and  mercury,  and  the  yellow 
and  red  oxides  of  lead.  White  arsenic  was  a  familiar  substance, 
and  its  power  of  whitening  copper  is  referred  to  in  support  of  the 
author's  general  theory. 

Sulphur  was  a  substance  regarded  as  of  great  value  and  impor- 
tance. The  native  and  purified  sulphurs  were  made  use  of,  but 
precipitated  sulphur  is  described  as  well.  The  element  was  dis- 
solved in  an  alkaline  menstruum,  and  this  was  decomposed  with 
acetic  acid.  Curiously,  however,  Geber  does  not  remark  the  strong 
fetid  odour  which  is  produced  in  this  decomposition.  The  effect  of 
acting  on  copper  and  mercury  with  sulphur  is  specially  referred  to. 

The  alkaline  carbonates  are  mentioned.  Carbonate  of  potassium 
was  obtained  from  cream  of  tartar  by  ignition,  solution,  and 
crystallization — sodic  carbonate,  or  salt-alkali,  from  sea-shore  plants. 
Caustic  alkali  was  got  by  acting  on  the  carbonate   with  caustic 


Mu.  John  Ferguson  on  Eleven  Centuries  of  C/ceminlri/.    283 

lime.  But  no  real  distinction  was  made  between  the  carbonates 
themselves,  and  between  the  alkalies  in  the  mild  and  caustic  states. 

The  mineral  acids  were  employed.  Sulphuric  acid  in  an  impure 
state  was  got  by  distilling  alum.  This  water,  as  it  is  called, 
seems  to  have  been  used  for  acting  on  the  metals,  and  on  salts 
and  other  compounds.  Nitric  acid,  called  dissolving  or  solutive 
water,  was  prepared  by  distilling  1  lb.  green  vitriol,  £  lb.  nitre, 
■\  lb.  jameni  alum.  The  red  fumes  which  make  their  appearance 
in  this  operation  seem  to  be  noticed.  By  mixing  sal  ammoniac, 
or  common  salt,  with  the  solutive  water,  a  fluid  was  obtained 
which  Geber  says  will  dissolve  gold,  sulphur,  and  silver.  He  is 
right  about  two  of  these,  but  he  is  partially  in  error  with  regard 
to  silver. 

Acetic  acid  or  vinegar  is  repeatedly  mentioned,  and  it  was  got 
strong  and  pure  by  repeated  distillation. 

Geber's  knowledge  of  saline  substances  was  very  considerable. 
He  describes  three  varieties  of  alum,  green  vitriol,  sal  ammoniac, 
borax,  saltpetre,  common  salt,  nitrate  of  silver,  corrosive  sublimate, 
and  terchloride  of  gold  in  solution. 

Besides  these  he  must  have  known  a  number  of  other  salts 
produced  by  the  mutual  reactions  of  the  strong  acids  with  the 
metals,  but  as  he  does  not  describe  them  distinctly,  it  is  hardly 
fair  to  enumerate  them  as  part  of  his  material.  He  describes, 
however,  one  or  two  acids  of  organic  origin,  and  their  solvent 
effects  on  certain  substances. 

Such  is  a  brief  catalogue  of  the  substances  or  chemicals  with 
which  Geber  worked.  What  were  the  operations  to  which  he 
subjected  them?  They  can  be  readily  enumerated — solution, 
filtration,  and  crystallization.  He  employed  these  for  the  prepara- 
tion and  purification  of  salts  of  various  kinds.  Digestion  at  various 
degrees  of  heat  was,  of  course,  indispensable,  as,  for  example,  in 
the  sun,  in  hot  ashes,  in  the  water  bath — which  he  is  one  of 
the  first  chemists  to  describe — and  in  furnaces  of  different  kinds. 
The  construction  of  furnaces  was  to  the  old  chemists  a  matter 
of  the  very  greatest  importance.  At  a  time  when  there  were 
no  thermometers,*   no  gas,  no  spirit-lamps,  it  is  easy  to  under- 

*  The  thermometer  was  invented  early  in  the  17th  century,  but  no  exact 
date  is  given.   The  earliest  allusion  to  it  for  measuring  differences  of  tempera 
ture  for  chemical  purposes  which  I  have  seen,  is  in  Lefebure's  Compleat 
Body  of  Chymistry,  Londou,  1C64.  4to,  part  i.,  p.  95.     There  is  a  drawing 
of  the  instrument  given  besides. 


284  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

stand  that  the  chemists  must  have  had  to  content  themselves 
with  very  broad  differences  of  temperature,  and  in  fact  they 
could  do  little  else  than  distinguish  between,  e.g.,  the  tempera- 
ture of  boiling  water  and  say  a  visible  low  red  heat,  between 
that  and  a  red  heat,  between  that  and  a  fire  urged  to  its  utmost 
by  vents  and  draught-holes  placed  in  a  particular  way  in  the 
furnace.  So  important,  however,  was  this  subject  of  heat  and  its 
regulation  felt,  that  Geber  has  written  a  separate  treatise  entitled, 
"  Of  Furnaces. " 

He  was  also  quite  familiar  with  the  operations  of  cementation, 
i.e.,  of  purifying  gold  by  means  of  a  mixture  of  an  alkaline  car- 
bonate and  pounded  bricks,  and  of  cupellation,  i.e.,  of  assaying  or 
purifying  gold  by  heating  it  with  lead  in  a  porous  crucible  called 
a  cupel,  made  of  pounded  bone  ash.  The  account  he  gives  of  this 
operation — apparently  one  of  the  oldest  in  metallurgical  chemistry 
— is  one  of  the  most  complete  in  the  whole  of  Ins  writings,  and  is 
so  exact  that  it  might  be  followed  almost  at  the  present  day. 
Indeed,  it  bears  a  singular  resemblance  to  the  account  of  the  same 
process  given  by  the  late  Professor  W.  A.  Miller,  in  his  "  Elements 
of  Chemistry,"  part  ii. 

Another  important  operation  was  distillation,  the  separation  of  a 
more  volatile  from  a  less  volatile  fluid.  It  was  employed  for  the 
preparation  of  nitric  acid,  the  purification  of  acetic  acid,  and  such  like 
purposes.  This  has  always  been  one  of  the  most  important  of 
chemical  processes,  as  it  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  oldest.  It  was 
in  use  long  before  Geber's  time,  for,  so  far  as  one  can  gather,  it  was 
employed  by  the  chemists  at  the  beginning  of  our  era — say  500 
years  before  Geber.  Indeed,  there  is  every  likelihood  that  so 
obvious  and  efficient  a  process  must  have  been  invented  almost 
as  soon  as  attention  was  directed  to  the  ebullition  and  evaporation 
of  fluids.  The  distillation  described  is  of  three  kinds — ordinary 
distillation  by  ascent,  distillation  by  descent,  and  what  is  called 
distillation  by  a  filter — a  species  of  filtration  in  which  a  bunch  of 
fibres,  or  a  piece  of  porous  paper  or  cloth,  is  hung  over  the  edge  of 
a  vessel  with  one  end  immersed  in  the  fluid  requiring  filtration. 
Then,  by  capillary  attraction,  the  fluid  drains  through  the  fibres  and 
drops  into  a  vessel  placed  beneath  the  projecting  end. 

And  now,  what  was  the  theory  which  Geber  maintained  and 
tided  to  apply  practically,  besides  defending  it  against  the 
assaults  of  those  persons  who  decried  it?  It  was  this: — 
The  metals   (then   known)  are   bodies   composed  of  two   funda- 


Mr.  John  Ferguson  on  Eleven  Centuries  of  Cliemistry.    285 

mental  elements,  one  called  mercury,  the  other  sulphur.  When 
these  elements  are  in  their  purest  possible  state,  most  intimately 
mixed  and  digested  with  each  other  for  a  very  long  time  in  the 
earth,  so  as  to  form  a  perfectly  equal  and  homogeneous  body,  the 
result  is  gold ;  and  when  the  elemental  sulphur  is  white,  silver. 
The  other  metals  are  compounded  of  these  same  elemental  sub- 
stances, but  they  are  in  themselves  less  pure,  being  mingled  with 
various  earthy  feculencies,  and  are  not  so  thoroughly  incorporated 
with  each  other.  Hence,  while  gold  and  silver  will  stand  to  be 
heated  in  the  air  without  change  of  substance,  while  they  are 
dense  and  fulgent,  highly  extensible  under  the  hammer,  sonorous, 
and  so  on,  and  most,  difficult  of  attack  by  ordinary  spirits  and 
bodies,  and  will  bear  the  trial  of  cementation  and  cupellation,  all 
the  other  metals  are  acted  on  by  fire  and  various  agents.  They 
have  some  of  the  properties  of  the  nobler  and  more  perfect  metals, 
but  they  are  quite  deficient  in  others.  It  seems  certain,  however, 
from  the  changes  observed  in  mines— for  instance,  iron  tools  in 
copper  mines  being  gradually  converted  into  copper;  copper  waters 
evaporated  and  digested  in  the  sand  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  yielding 
scales  of  most  pure  and  perfect  gold — that  it  is  the  intention  of 
nature  gradually  to  perfect  these  inferior  metals,  and  by  slow  con- 
coction to  convert  them  into  gold.  By  artificial  processes,  also,  it 
is  seen  that  these  less  perfect  metals  can  be  changed  into  one 
another.  Geber  asserts  that  he  has  seen  lead  converted  by  calcina- 
tion into  tin  and  vice  versa.  Now,  since  by  a  process  of  ripening, 
nature  perfects  the  inferior  metals,  if  there  could  be  discovered  any 
method  of  hastening  this  process,  there  should  be  nothing  to  prevent 
this  conversion  or  transmutation  being  effected  by  human  agency. 
According  to  the  author,  there  is  a  way  of  effecting  this,  and  a 
large  part  of  his  writings  is  devoted  to  the  method.  The  trans- 
mutation is  effected  by  the  use  of  certain  substances,  which  he  calls 
medicines  ;  and  by  a  very  clear  course  of  argument  he  shows  that 
there  must  be  two  for  each  imperfect  metal — one  medicine  for  the 
white,  -i.e.  silver,  and  another  for  the  red,  i.e.  gold.  But  he  asserts 
that  after  an  immense  deal  of  labour  he  had  discovered  one  medi- 
cine that  would  be  efficacious  when  applied  to  any  of  the  metals  to 
ensure  the  transmutation  of  it  to  gold,  and  another,  to  silver.  The 
idea  he  certainly  works  out  very  clearly;  but  the  chief  difficulty  one 
has  now,  is  in  trying  to  understand  what  could  have  made  such  a  clear 
thinker  and  observer  as  Geber  suppose  that  he  had  in  any  particu- 
lar case  transmuted  one  metal  into  another.     The  only  explanation 


286  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

I  can  offer  is,  that  there  was  the  preconceived  idea  of  the  possibility, 
or,  rather,  natural  necessity  of  progression  towards  j>erfection  among 
the  metals,  that  the  eduction  of  one  metal  from  another  by  a 
chemical  process  was  interpreted,  from  ignorance  of  the  permanence 
of  bodies,  to  be  production  of  the  one  metal  from  the  other,  and 
that  he  failed  to  verify  by  actual  tests  the  results  of  his  operations, 
and  was  thus  untrue  to  his  own  principles.  That  Geber  believed 
in  transmutation,  in  a  transmuting  substance  or  substances,  and  in 
his  having  succeeded,  is  apparent  in  his  writings. 

The  above,  the  composition  of  the  metals,  is  the  great  principle 
which  pervades  his  works ;  but  one  sees  incidentally  remarks  of  a 
general  kind,  which  show  that  the  author  attempted  to  assign 
reasons  for  the  phenomena  he  observed,  or  that  these  phenomena 
were  merely  illustrations  of  certain  general  principles.  For  ex- 
ample, the  notion  of  affinity  makes  its  appearance  in  its  original 
form,  viz.,  that  of  relationship.  One  substance  acts  upon  another, 
because  there  is  some  kind  of  communion  between  them.  Mercury 
amalgamates,  therefore,  rapidly  with  gold,  and  lead,  and  tin,  but 
less  readily  with  silver  and  copper,  and  not  at  all  with  iron,  because 
it  has  so  little  mercury  in  its  composition.  From  this  he  draws 
very  cleverly  a  conclusion  which  I  give  in  the  original  words 
(Russell's  translation,  p.  160): — 

"  Study  in  all  your  works  that  argent vive  may  excel  in  the  com- 
mixtion.  And  if  you  can  perfect  by  argentvive  only,  you  will  be  the 
searcher  out  of  a  most  precious  perfection ;  and  of  the  perfection 
of  that,  which  overcomes  the  work  of  nature.  For  you  may  cleanse 
it  most  inwardly,  to  which  nmndification  Nature  cannot  reach.  But 
the  probation  of  this,  viz.  that  those  bodies  which  contain  a  greater 
quantity  of  argentvive,  are  of  greater  perfection,  is  their  easie 
reception  of  argentvive.  For  we  see  bodies  of  perfection  amicably 
to  embrace  argentvive." 

Tn  the  preceding  I  have  culled  just  a  few  of  the  leading  points 
of  interest  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  books  of  this  father  of 
modern  chemistry,  as  he  is  not  inappropriately  termed.  Were  this 
a  suitable  opportunity,  and  if  there  were  time  enough  it  would  be 
easy  by  giving  quotations  and  descriptions  to  show  how  far  the 
writer  had  advanced  in  the  knowledge  of  certain  classes  of  sub- 
stances and  reactions,  and  how  sound  his  view  was  of  the  relations 
of  man  and  nature.  But  as  this  would  occupy  a  succession  of 
hours  I  cannot  undertake  the  task  now.  My  object  at  present  is 
rather  to  show  the  sum  of  his  knowledge,  and  wo  find  it  comprised 


Mr.  John  Feuguson  oil  Eleven  Centuries  of  Chemistry.    287 

in  this  very  short  statement :  There  are  six  metals  and  mercury, 
sulphur,  and  arsenic.  There  are  two  or  three  acids — solvents — and 
there  is  a  variety  of  middle  minerals  and  salts,  some  soluble  and 
some  insoluble.  The  substances,  when  subjected  to  certain 
operations,  can  be  altered,  decomposed,  combined  in  a  variety  of 
ways.  The  agents,  and  processes,  and  apparatus  are  all  of  use  for 
the  great  object  of  the  whole  science  and  art  of  Chemistry,  viz., 
to  transmute  the  imperfect  or  inferior  metals  into  the  superior 
|>erfect  metals,  gold  and  silver. 

I  have  spent  some  time  upon  this  author,  partly  because  of  his 
own  very  great  merit,  and  partly  because  no  theory  ever  broached 
in  Chemistry  lias  endured  for  such  a  length  of  time  as  his,  has  had 
so  romantic  a  history,  and  has  had  such  an  influence.  So  far  as 
the  mere  question  of  duration  is  concerned,  no  single  author  and 
no  theory  have  survived  as  these  have  done.  Not  only  were  the 
opinions  and  ideas  of  Geber  quoted  by  most  of  his  successors,  but 
his  works  liave  been  often  printed,  and  an  edition  appeared  in 
German,  with  a  commentary,  so  late  as  1792.  Nay,  more,  there 
was  printed  and  published  in  London  in  the  year  1850  a  very 
singular  work  entitled  A  Suggestive  Enquiry  into  tlie  Hermetic 
Mystery,  in  which,  among  many  others,  Geber's  works  and  views 
about  transmutation  are  referred  to,  and  apparently  in  perfectly 
good  faith.  I  should  not  be  surprised,  indeed,  to  hear  of  some  one  at 
the  present  moment  studying  Geber's  lx>oks,  trusting  implicitly  in 
his  views,  and  endeavouring  to  perfect  the  impure  and  imperfect 
metals  by  working  on  the  lines  indicated  by  him. 

Quite  distinct,  however,  from  this  particular  persistence  of 
Geber's  doctrines  to  the  present,  the  consideration  of  which  would 
lead  me  into  a  totally  different  route  from  that  which  I  have 
proposed  to  myself  to  follow  in  this  address,  there  is  the  legitimate 
historical  continuation  of  these  same  views  in  a  different  direction, 
and  leading  to  quite  different  results.  It  is  this  continuation  I 
propose  to  follow  up,  and,  according  to  the  title  of  my  address,  I 
should  take  the  time  bv  centuries. 

978.  For  two  of  these  centuries,  from  777,  the  date  of 
Geber's  death,  to  978,  I  have  found  hardly  any  name  in  chemistry 
at  which  I  could  halt.  It  is  true  that  in  978  Avicenna  was  born,  but 
though  Avicenna  was  distinguished  as  a  physician,  or  at  all  events 
as  the  great  systematizer  of  medicine  for  the  middle  ages,  and 
though  he  seems  to  have  believed  in  the  general  principle  of  trans- 
mutation, he  made  no  advances,  and  rather  employed  Chemistry  as 


288  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgoic. 

an  aid  to  medicine  and  pharmacy.  It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  the  influence  he  exercised  as  a  physician  was  literally 
unbounded  down  to  the  sixteenth  century.  Just  as  the  church  held 
men's  minds  enthralled  on  theology,  and  philosophy,  and  every-day 
life,  so  Avicenna's  word  was  final  in  medicine,  and  was  worth  any 
number  of  other  men's  reasons.  This  lasted  until  the  sixteenth 
century,  when  the  influence  of  the  church  was  attacked  by  Luther, 
and  that  of  Avicenna  was  demolished  by  Paracelsus. 

From  978,  the  birth  year  of  Avicenna,  down  to  1278,  there 
is  again  hardly  a  name  to  be  quoted  in  the  History  of  Chemistry. 
The  only  exceptions,  perhaps,  are  Albertus  Magnus,  who  was 
born  in  1193,  and  died  about  1280;  Roger  Bacon,  born  about 
1214,  died  1274;  Michael  the  Scot,  bom  about  1200,  died  about 
1270-80.  These  are  names  better  known  in  the  history  of  philo- 
sophy, and  physics,  and  Aristotelian  learning,  than  in  Chemistry. 
All  three  are  credited  with  chemical  writings ;  but  these  contain  little 
more  than  a  recapitulation  of  Gebers  doctrines:  the  theory  of 
composition  and  transmutation  is  the  same,  and  as  for  the  positive 
knowledge  of  substances  there  is  nothing  to  add. 

1278.  Perhaps  the  true  representative  of  Chemistry  in  1278  is 
Raymund  Lully,  who  was  born  in  the  island  of  Majorca  in  1 235, 
and  died  in  1315.*  About  this  time,  therefore,  he  was  in  his  forty- 
third  year,  and  he  had  already  spent  an  adventurous  life.  He  had 
travelled  in  Spain,  and  Italy,  and  France,  and  Africa,  studying 
Arabic,  and  trying  to  convert  the  infidels.  In  Milan  he 
took  to  alchemy,  and,  long  after,  he  succeeded  in  preparing  the 
philosopher's  stone,  with  which  in  England  he  effected  several 
historical  transmutations.  These  appear  in  all  the  histories  by 
the  partisans  and  defenders  of  alchemy  as  among  the  best  authen- 
ticated cases.  Apart  from  this,  however,  there  is  his  actual 
Chemistry,  which  remains  in  his  very  numerous  writings.  His 
general  theoretical  views,  like  those  of  Bacon,  Albertus  Magnus, 
and  Arnold  of  Villanova,  are  still  Geber's.  He  believed  in  the 
composition  of  the  metals,  and  of  necessity  in  their  relationship 
and  mutual  transformation.  He  was,  besides,  quite  familiar  with 
all  the  facts  of  the  science  that  had  been  discovered  in  the  500 
years  which  had  elapsed  from  the  days  of  Geber.  For  example,  he 
could  prepare  alcohol  by  distilling  red  wine,  and  he  could  make  it 


*  Some  say  1 335.     There  is  a  good  deal  of  confusion  abont  the  events  of 
Lully's  life. 


Mk.  John  Ferguson  on  Eleven  Centuries  of  Chemistry.    289 

stronger  and  more  volatile  by  distilling  it  over  carbonate  of  potas- 
sium. He  also  knew  that  it  was  inflammable.  He  is  the  first  to 
mention  carbonate  of  ammonia  (sal  volatile),  and  to  show  that  it  is 
precipitated  by  addition  of  alcohol  to  its  aqueous  solution.  He 
was,  besides,  a  clever  manipulator,  and  describes  various  plans  he 
adopted  to  effect  his  aims.  He  made  use  of  lutes  in  distillation,  to 
prevent  the  escape  of  the  volatile  portions,  and  he  coated  his  glass 
vessels  with  clay,  to  prevent  them  cracking  by  exposure  to  heat. 

There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  in  Raymund  Lully  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  the  charlatan,  and,  in  fact,  his  life  is  that  of  a  busy 
adventurer,  who  rather  looked  to  transmutation  as  a  means  of 
getting  money  for  his  ideas  about  waging  war  against  and  con- 
verting Turks  and  infidels,  than  for  love  of  science  and  the  solution 
of  a  great  problem.  He  complains  bitterly,  indeed,  of  the  time  he 
had  spent  over  the  works  of  Geber,  and  the  futility  of  his  exer- 
tions, and  said  that  it  was  never  by  reading  these,  or  any  other 
books,  that  the  great  mystery  could  be  attained. 

1278-1478.  It  had  been  found,  at  last,  by  slow  experience,  that 
while  certain  actions  and  products  were  easy  to  obtain,  the  thing  for 
which  all  the  trouble  was  taken  always  slipped  through  the  grasp 
of  the  experimenter,  while  the  belief  in  its  possibility  took  stronger 
hold  on  men's  minds  than  ever.  Hence,  in  the  century,  or  rather 
the  two  centuries,  succeeding  Lully,  from  1278  down  to  1478,  should 
be  placed  the  period  of  alchemy  pure  and  simple,  during  which  the 
attempt  to  realise  in  practice  the  problem  which  wre  have  seen 
stated  originally  and  clearly  by  Geber,  had,  in  the  700  years  which 
had  elapsed  since  his  death,  very  much  altered  its  character.  It  had 
become  less  definite,  less  precise  in  men's  minds.  Investigation  and 
experiment,  even  with  a  quite  mistaken  aim,  had  increased  the 
knowledge  of  different  bodies,  had  brought  new  properties  to  light, 
and  had  thereby  complicated  the  question.  And  on  the  other 
hand,  men  with  deficient  insight  into  the  practical  side  of  the 
subject,  had  begun  to  surround  it  with  enigmatical  and  mystical 
views,  which  partook  rather  of  an  attempt  to  construct  a  physical 
cosmogony,  than  to  solve  a  definite  chemical  problem.  Those, 
again,  who  still  trusted  in  their  operations,  left  the  purely 
alchemical  question,  and  took  up  incidental  points  which  would 
subserve  the  main  end,  but  themselves  first  required  examination. 

Accordingly,  in  this  interval  we  meet  with  the  famous  adept 
Nicolas  Flamel,  whose  story  is  such  an  extraordinary  one  that 
some   writers    assert,   and  not  without  plausibility,   that  it  ^a> 

Vol.  XI.— No.  2.  v  —— 


290  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

nothing  but  an  allegorical  account  of  the  preparation  of  the 
philosopher's  stone;  and  whose  writings,  or  at  least  those  ascribed  to 
him,  are  full  of  what  appears  at  first  sight  to  be  a  set  of  conundrums, 
couched  in  very  obscure  language. 

Just  400  years  ago,  also,  lived  George  Ripley,  Canon  of  Brid- 
lington, Yorkshire,  who  worked  at  the  Hermetic  art,  travelled  on 
the  Continent  and  lived  long  in  Rome,  and  finally  returned  to  his 
native  country  in  1478  in  possession  of  the  secret.  He  entered 
the  Carmelite  Order,  lived  a  very  retired  life,  was  suspected  of 
magic,  wrote  several  books,  one  of  the  chief  of  which  is  the  "  Book 
of  tfie  12  Gates"  spent  enormous  sums  in  the  defence  of  Europe, 
especially  of  the  Island  of  Rhodes,  against  the  Turks,  and  died  about 
1490.  Through  the  mist  of  language  one  can  see  that  he  held  the 
Geberian  view  of  the  composition  of  the  metals,  but  added  nothing 
to  what  was  known  of  chemical  facts.  He  seems,  however,  to 
have  thought  that  the  philosopher's  stone,  if  it  could  be  got,  would 
be  the  best  of  all  medicines  for  human  ailments. 

But  while  in  the  15  th  century  alchemy  was  flourishing  in  the 
highest  degree,  there  was  a  Benedictine  monk  at  Erfurt,  who  was 
investigating  a  substance  which  had  been  known  for  long,  but 
which  does  not  play  any  prominent  part  in  the  previous  history  of 
Chemistry.  This  monk  was  called  Basil  Valentine,  and  the  sub- 
stance he  examined  was  antimony. 

As  in  previous  cases,  however,  there  is  considerable  doubt  as  to 
the  existence  of  a  real  person  of  this  name  at  the  date  men- 
tioned, and  very  considerable  doubt  as  to  the  manner  in  which  his 
writings  (which  were  concealed  in  a  hole  in  a  wall)  were  disclosed, 
long  after  his  death,  by  the  place  being  opened  by  a  thunderbolt 
It  seems  that  in  the  list  of  the  friars  at  Erfurt,  Basil  Valentine's 
name  does  not  occur,  so  that  all  the  rest  of  the  story  is  probably 
an  invention,  but  there  is  no  doubt  about  the  existence  of  the 
books,  whatever  may  be  said  of  their  true  date  and  authorship. 

The  chief  work  of  this  author  is  entitled  the  Triumphant 
Chariot  of  Antimony,  and  though  the  author,  both  in  it  and  in 
other  works,  shows  that  he  was  quite  imbued  with  alchemical 
notions,  he  must  have  amassed  an  immense  amount  of  knowledge 
about  bodies  in  general,  and  antimony  in  particular,  either  by  his 
own  exertions,  or  by  reading  what  others  liad  done.  If  the  latter, 
the  authors  that  he  consulted  are  no  longer  in  existence ;  but  on 
all  accounts,  it  seems  more  correct  to  believe  that  the  most  of  what 
he  describes  was  his  own  discovery. 


Mr.  John  Ferguson  on  Eleven  Centuries  of  Chemistry.     291 

This  work,  which,  with  Kerkringius'  Commentary,  forms  a  small 
8vo  volume,  was  repeatedly  published  in  Latin,  English,  and  German. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  say,  in  these  old  treatises,  what  is  original  and 
what  has  been  added;  but  it  would  take  a  long  time,  in  either  case, 
to  recapitulate  the  facts  with  which  this  work  abounds.  In  one  word, 
it  contains  almost  every  preparation  of  antimony  that  was  known 
up  to  the  beginning  of  this  century.  The  sulphide,  oxide,  chloride, 
oxychloride,  tartar  emetic,  and  other  compounds,  can  all  be  identi- 
fied, and  incidentally  a  great  number  of  other  bodies  and  reactions. 
Thus,  for  instance,  spirit  of  salt  is  mentioned,  and  the  extraction  of 
metals  in  the  wet  way — for  example,  copper  from  pyrites,  by 
allowing  it  to  turn  into  vitriol  by  the  humidity  of  the  air,  dis- 
solving the  vitriol  in  water,  and  adding  to  the  solution  a  plate  of 
iron.  Were  I  to  enter  into  the  details  given  by  this  author,  and  show 
you  not  only  his  facts,  but  his  erroneous  and  often  inverted  views, 
I  should  occupy  more  than  the  time  at  my  disposal. 

Basil  Valentine  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  names 
belonging  to  the  alchemical  period.  He  himself  claims  to  have 
been  possessed  of  the  philosopher's  stone,  but  his  writings, 
as  repositories  of  facts,  and  more  definite  scientific  insight  into 
reactions  and  into  the  permanency  of  matter,  are  among  the 
most  valuable  remains  of  the  older  chemical  literature,  and 
will  repay  perusal  by  any  one  who  is  interested  in  seeing 
how  the  science  gradually  developed.  He  is  not  only  ahead 
of  Geber  in  the  number  of  his  facts,  but  he  advanced  also 
in  his  theory  of  composition ;  for,  in  addition  to  sulphur  and 
mercury,  he  considered  salt  as  an  element,  and  maintained 
that  these  three  were  contained,  not  only  in  the  metals,  but 
in  other  substances  as  well.  He  agreed,  however,  with  Geber  in 
this,  that  the  differences  among  the  metals  turned  upon  the  different 
proportions  and  different  degrees  of  purity  of  their  constituents. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  proposed  views  about  relations  between 
the  metals  and  the  planets  in  a  small  tractate,  to  which,  as  one 
writer  has  said,  there  are  few  parallels  in  its  madness,  even  among 
the  writings  of  this  period.  In  practical  chemistry,  however,  he 
was  wonderfully  skilled  for  his  time ;  for  not  only  are  we  indebted 
to  him  for  a  knowledge  of  antimony,  as  I  have  already  said,  but 
he  seems  to  have  had  some  idea  about  qualitative  analysis.  At 
any  rate,  he  was  able  to  detect  several  metals  when  mixed  in  small 
traces  with  others;  and  points  out  that  a  good  deal  of  the  apparent 
transmutation,  which  was  used  by  the  cheating  &tahei&\?ft&  <&  ^ga 


292  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

time  to  impose  upon  those  ignorant  of  metals,  was  the  effect  of 
mixing  metals  in  different  proportions ;  and  he  showed  that  these 
mixtures  contained  no  gold  or  silver. 

Thus,  at  the  end  of  the  15th  century,  during  800  years,  chemists 
had  made  distinct  progress  in  the  knowledge  of  different  substances. 
But  two  things  remained  unchanged — 1st,  the  aim,  to  transmute 
inferior  metals  into  gold  and  silver;  2nd,  the  general  theory  of 
composition  of  the  metals.  The  only  advance  was  to  include  under 
Chemistry  other  substances,  and  to  ascribe  to  them  the  same  composi- 
tion. Parallel,  too,  with  this  purely  scientific  side  of  the  subject, 
had  undoubtedly  run  an  applied  or  practical  side.  Medical  men, 
alive  to  the  importance  of  getting  new  medicines,  had  not  been 
slow  to  avail  themselves  of  the  newly-discovered  compounds;  and 
hence  the  Triumphant  Chariot  of  Antimony  contains  allusions 
to  the  medicinal  effects  of  the  antimonial  compounds. 

1578.  I  ask  you,  therefore,  now  to  pass  to  the  next  centennial 
period,  to  1578,  and  observe  the  changes. 

In  the  interval  a  man  had  lived,  who,  deficient  in  learning  and 
training,  deficient  in  every  grace  of  manner,  of  a  common,  some 
have  said  of  a  vicious  and  debased,  life,  had  altered  almost  the 
whole  face  of  an  important  branch  of  science.  This  was  Paracelsus, 
who  lived  from  1493  to  1541.  He  it  was  who  attacked  and  over- 
threw the  Galenic  and  Arabic  medicine,  who  freed  men  from  the 
influence  of  an  authority  which  had  become  an  incubus,  rather  than 
a  rational  help,  who  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  inquiry  without  dread 
of  the  consequences.  He  it  was  who  did  away  with  the  terrible 
prescriptions  of  the  then  physicians,  and  introduced  what  were 
distinctly  called  chemical  medicines.  But  he  did  not  confine  him- 
self to  this  alone.  He  attempted  to  give  a  rational  explanation  of 
disease  by  founding  on  chemical  actions  in  the  body.  It  is  needless 
to  say  how  vain  this  attempt  was  in  the  sixteenth,  when  physicians 
and  physiologists  are  not  yet  ready  for  it  in  the  nineteenth,  century; 
but  Paracelsus  gave  an  impulse  to  the  study  of  medical  Chemistry, 
as  distinct  from  alchemy,  which  lasted  down  to  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  and  is  well  seen  in  the  fact  of  Chemistry 
having  been  almost  always  pursued  until  then  by  medical  men,  and 
forming  an  essential  part  of  a  medical  training.  But  Paracelsus' 
views  had  not  carried  conviction  universally.  He  was  keenly 
opposed  by  upholders  of  the  older  system,  and  as  Paracelsus  was 
far  from  being  perfect  or  logical  in  his  doctrines,  it  was  not  difficult 
to  refute  many  of  his  positions.     Still,  his  influence  was  felt  in  the 


Mr.  John  Ferguson  on  Eleven  Centuries  of  Chemistry.     293 

impulse  he  gave  less  prejudiced  physicians  to  examine  many  bodies 
chemically,  with  the  hope  of  discovering  new  and  active  remedies, 
and  if  possible  to  explain  the  actions  in  the  human  economy. 

The  most  important  contributions  to  Chemistry  under  these 
conditions  were  made  by  Libavius,  who  was  born  in  1560 
and  died  in  1616.  His  work  was  done  a  little  later  than 
1578,  but  he  is  the  best  representative  of  the  time.  He  is 
distinguished  by  his  firmness  and  moderation,  by  his  learning  and 
indomitable  labour  as  a  writer  and  controversialist,  and  also  by 
his  success  as  a  discoverer.  In  1597  he  published  a  treatise  on 
Chemistry,  and  in  1606  a  collection  of  his  works  appeared  at 
Francfort  in  three  volumes  folio.  These  volumes  contain  pretty 
nearly  all  the  chemical  knowledge  of  the  time ;  and  as  they  are 
furnished  with  very  good  drawings  of  apparatus,  and  also  of  a 
laboratory,  the  arrangements  of  which  are  fully  described,  we  may 
regard  them  as  forming  perhaps  the  first  text-book  or  manual 
on  general  Chemistry  which  had  appeared. 

The  author  still  upheld  the  doctrine  of  composition  from  salt, 
sulphur,  and  mercury,  but  the  importance  of  such  vague  elemental 
principles  was  not  very  much  insisted  upon.  At  any  rate  they 
were  employed  rather  to  express  certain  qualities  or  properties  of 
bodies  than  anything  about  their  ultimate  composition.  But  in 
knowledge  of  the  habits  of  bodies,  and  in  the  analytical  dis- 
crimination of  bodies,  the  author  was  far  advanced.  Thus,  one  of 
his  treatises  is  devoted  to  the  examination  and  analysis  of  mineral 
water,  and  for  the  period — 300  years  ago — is  remarkably  well 
done.  To  one  of  his  discoveries  the  author  has  given  his  name  : 
the  faming  liquor  of  Libavius.  This  salt,  the  perchloride  of 
tin,  he  prepared  by  distilling  tin  with  corrosive  sublimate,  a 
method  largely  used  by  the  older  chemists  for  getting  anhydrous 
chlorides. 

In  Libavius'  time  experiments  were  made  upon  dogs  and  cats 
and  other  animals.  Libavius  remarks  that  these  are  not  altogether 
worthy  of  confidence,  because  animals  are  differently  affected  from 
men,  and  even  among  men  there  are  not  two  temperaments  which 
exactly  resemble  one  another ;  and  it  is  therefore  impossible  that 
the  results  should  be  absolute  and  applicable  to  every  case.  He 
was  very  shrewd  in  his  ideas,  and  he  showed  himself  a  skilled 
observer  in  being  able  to  recognize  the  identity  of  a  substance 
prepared  in  two  different  ways.  Thus,  he  saw  that  sulphuric  acid 
got  by  distillation  was  the  same  as  that  which  is  formed  when 


294  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

what  he  called  the  acid  spirit  of  sulphur,  dissolved  in  water,  is 
converted  into  the  stronger  and  less  volatile  acid  liquor. 

You  will  remember  that  in  the  general  course  of  history  the 
sixteenth  century  is  one  of  the  most  notable.  The  spread  of  the 
Reformation,  the  discovery  of  America,  inventions  and  discoveries 
in  astronomy  and  other  branches  of  physics,  and  the  extraordinary 
burst  of  literary  genius — all  these  showed  that  some  enormous  clog 
had  been  removed  from  the  human  spirit,  and  that  it  was  revelling 
in  its  newly  acquired  liberty.  It  was  not  to  be  expected,  of  course, 
that  all  would  share  in  this  progress  alike,  but  one  can  see  an 
immense  advance  and  insight  in  general.  The  idea  of  science,  as 
distinguished  from  ecclesiastical  and  scholastic  dogmatism  and 
authority,  had  struck  root ;  and  it  was  formulated  and  worked 
out  by  Lord  Bacon  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  dominated  in  the  work  of  that  century. 

1678.  Of  all  byegone  periods  in  the  history  of  Chemistry  the 
seventeenth  century  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable.  It  was  prolific 
in  the  highest  degree  in  chemical  writings  of  every  kind  of  merit 
— from  the  clearest  statements  of  facte  by  Glauber  and  Glaser  and 
Lemery,  and  the  most  trenchant  criticism  by  Boyle,  down  to  the 
vaguest  and  most  unintelligible  allegories  by  those  who  still 
cherished  the  dream  of  a  mystical  philosopher's  stone. 

In  fact,  the  cultivators  of  the  subject  are  divisible  into  several 
groups,  and  if  I  just  mention  a  few  of  the  works  which  were  pub. 
lished  about  1678 — 200  years  ago — you  will  understand  what  very 
different  kinds  of  chemists  there  must  have  been. 

Well,  there  were  published  in  London  in  1678  : — 

Tlie  Works  of  Geber,  the  Arabian  Prime  and  PhilosopJier. 
By  Richard  Russell. 

Basil  Valentine:  his  triumpliant  Chariot  of  Antimony;  with 
Annotations  of  Theodore  Kirkri7igiusf  M.D.  Also  by 
Richard  Russell. 

Ripley  Revived;  or,  an  Exposition  upon  Sir  George  Ri})leyJs 
HernieticO'Poetieal  Works;  toritten  by  Eirenwus  Phila- 
lethes. 

I  have  already  spoken  about  Geber  and  Basil  Valentine ;  but 
this  third  work  is  in  the  usual  style  of  alchemical  allegory,  though 
it  contains  some  plain  chemical  processes.*     Alongside  of  these 


*  BesideB  these  there  is  a  swarm  of  alchemical  works  beariug  date  from 
1660  to  1680. 


Mr.  John  Ferguson  on  Eleven  Centuries  of  Gfamistry.    295 

there  appeared  quite  a  different  set  of  chemical  treatises.  I  need 
mention  only  those  of  Glaser  and  Lemery,  and  the  corresponding 
little  manuals  of  Bolnest,  Thibaut,  and  others.*  All  these  works 
are  clear,  and  undisfigured  by  alchemical  notions.  Their  aim  is  to 
describe  the  preparation  of  mineral  and  other  substances  for  use  in 
medicine,  and  they  bear  the  same  family  resemblance  to  one 
another  that  the  smaller  text-books  of  the  present  day  do  among 
themselves. 

But  the  authors  still  believed  in  the  composition  of  metals  from 
salt,  sulphur  and  mercury,  and  worked  away  upon  this  theory 
with  tolerable  success.  It  requires  an  effort  for  us  to  believe  that 
in  the  early  years  of  the  Royal  Society  such  should  have  been  the 
prevalent  theory,  and  that  one  of  the  founders  of  that  Society,  the 
Hon.  Robert  Boyle,  should  have  thought  it  necessary  to  argue 
against  these  principles.  This,  however,  he  did,  and  so  wide-spread 
were  these  opinions  that  the  work  in  which  his  arguments  were 
contained,  and  which  was  published  in  1680,  bears  as  its  title 
TJie  Sceptical  Chymist.  In  this  work  he  refutes  both  the 
Aristotelian  elements  and  the  chemical  triad,  and  gives  as  the  true 
definition  of  an  element  that  which  is  maintained  at  present. 

*  TVie  Compleat  Chymist;  or,  a  New  Treatise  of  Chymi&try.... Written 
in  French  by  Christopher  Glaser.  Faithfully  Englished  by  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society.  Illustrated  with  copper  plates.  London,  1677.  12mo. 
[I  read  a  notice  of  G laser's  Life  and  Works  to  the  Chemical  Section, 
January  27,  1873.] 

A  Course  of  Chy wintry....  Writ  in  French  by  Monsieur  Nicholas  Lemery. 
Translated  by  Walter  Harris,  Doctor  of  Physick.    London,  1677.     12mo. 

The  Art  of  Chymistry:  as  it  is  now  practised.  Written  in  French  by 
P.  Thibaut... and  now  translated  into  English  by  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society.     London,  1675.     12mo. 

Aurora  Chymica:  or,  a  rational  toay  of  preparing  Animals,  Vegetables, 
and  Minerals  for  a  Physical  Usc.Authore  Edwardo  Bolnest."  London, 
1672.     12mo. 

The  Curious  Distillatory:  or,  the  Art  of  Distilling  Coloured  Liquors, 
Spirits,  Oylsj  etc.,  from  Vegetables,  Animals,  Minerals,  and  Metals. 
Written  by  Jo.  Sigis.  Esholt.  Put  into  English  by  T.  S.  London,  1677. 
12mo. 

Such  works  are  very  numerous.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  in 
1675  the  first  bibliography  of  chemical  books,  including  the  first  attempt  to 
catalogue  the  chemical  papers  in  the  Royal  Society's  Transactions,  was 
published  at  London  by  Will  Cooper,  an  indefatigable  labourer  in  the 
cause  of  chemical  literature. 


296 


Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 


But  it  took  very  long  l>efore  Boyle's  idea  was  adopted — in  fact, 
I  question  whether  in  the  popular  mind  it  has  been  adopted  yet. 
It  exercised  little  or  no  influence  on  the  chemical  work  of  the 
following  century,  and  the  arguments  drawn  from  experiment 
had  to  be  put  in  force  again  for  ho  important  a  substance  as 
chlorine. 

1778.  The  interval  between  1678-1778  was  a  very  eventful  one. 
A  whole  theoretical  epoch  is  included — the  epoch  of  Phlogiston. 
Erroneous  that  theory  may  have  been,  but  under  it  Chemistry 
became  a  science,  and  the  new  substances  and  reactions,  and  general 
principles  and  methods  discovered  were  more  than  equal  to  those 
of  the  preceding  ten  centuries.  To  say  nothing  of  the  discovery  of 
the  gases,  and  of  new  metals,  analytical  Chemistry  and  technical 
and  manufacturing  Chemistry  came  into  existence,  and  the  ball 
which  had  been  slowly  rolling,  but  was  gradually  acquiring 
increased  velocity,  was  now  bounding  along  without  a  stop.  Prior 
to  1778 — in  1772 — had  begun  the  attack  by  Lavoisier  on  the 
Phlogistic  system.  It  was  concluded  for  himself  by  1778,  or 
shortly  after,  but  it  was  some  years  before  it  had  asserted  its 
supremacy  among  the  chemists  of  Europe. 

The  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  distinguished 
not  only  by  Lavoisier's  great  reform  in  the  manner  of  regarding 
combustion,  but  by  a  succession  of  chemists  whose  lives  overlap, 
and  who  one  and  all  have  left  deep  marks  on  the  science. 


Beginning  with  Black, 

Born  1728- 1799 

We  have  Cavendish,  . 

1731—1810 

Priestley,     . 

1733—1804 

Bergman,     . 

1735—1784 

.James  Watt, 

173«— 1819 

Watson, 

1737— 181<> 

Scheole,        . 

1742— 178(> 

Lavoisier,     . 

1743— 1794 

Berthollet,  . 

1748—1822 

Fourcroy,     . 

1755—1809 

Richter, 

1762—1807 

Vauquelin,  . 

17<>3— 1829 

Wollaston,  . 

176G— 1828 

Dal  ton, 

17oT>— 1844 

Thomas  Thomson, 

1773—1852 

Thenard,      . 

1777—1857 

Labarraque, 

1777—1850 

Courtois, 

1777—1838 

And  then  in  1778  we  have  the  illustrious  names  of  Gav-Lussac 


Mr.  John  Febguson  oh  Eleven  Centuries  of  Chemistry.    297 

and  Davy — the  former  born  on  the  6th  of  December,  the  latter 
on  the  17th. 

Rerzelius,     ....  1779—1848 

And  the  last  great  name  of  the  century — 

Faraday,      ....  1791—1867 

A  century  ago,  therefore,  there  were  the  beginnings  of  modern 
Chemical  Science,  and  it  has  been  impressed  on  me  over  and  over 
again,  when  looking  at  history,  chronology  and  biography,  that 
there  are  epochs  in  which  human  genius  displays  itself  resplendently 
at  once,  and  that  there  is  a  similarity  in  this  respect  between  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  Remember  that 
it  was  not  in  Chemistry  alone  that  there  was  an  array  of  talent, 
but  in  poetry  and  literature,  in  exploration  at  home  and  abroad, 
in  war — Nelson  and  Picton  were  born  in  1758,  Napoleon  was  born 
in  1768,  Wellington,  Soult,  and  Ney  in  1769 — in  politics  and 
oratory,  in  philosophy  and  history,  there  was  the  same  unstinted 
production. 

But  our  attention  is  more  especially  called  to  the  fact  that  we 
are  on  the  eve  of  the  centenary  of  the  birth  of  Gay-Lussac  and 
Davy — two  of  the  greatest  discoverers  in  Chemical  Science  the 
world  has  produced. 

I  need  only  remind  you  of  Davy's  great  researches :  nitrous 
oxide;  electric  conduction  and  decomposition — resulting,  on  the 
one  hand,  in  the  separation  of  potassium  and  sodium,  the  decomposi- 
tion of  the  earths  following  as  a  necessary  consequence,  and  on  the 
other  in  the  electro-chemical  theory;  iodine  and  chlorine — resulting 
in  the  extension  and  confirmation  of  the  word  element,  the  discovery 
of  the  so-called  hydrogen  acids,  and  the  important  modification  of 
the  French  theory  of  the  constitution  of  acids;  the  investigation  of 
gaseous  explosion  and  of  flame,  and  the  invention  of  the  safety  lamp. 
These  are  the  contributions  to  science  which  stand  out  more 
prominently  in  connection  with  Davy.  But  over  and  above  all 
this  is  the  peculiar  manner  of  his  discoveries.  He  was  no  patient 
plodder.  He  did  not  elaborate  his  work  in  minute  detail.  He 
dashed  it  off  in  broad  masses ;  but  just  on  that  account  there  has 
never  been  anyone  to  follow  up  his  investigations.  Davy's  mantle 
fell  on  no  one,  not  even  on  Faraday. 

Gay-Lussac's  work  is  of  a  different  kind.  Less  broad  and  striking, 
it  is  of  the  most  thorough  and  comprehensive  kind.  Though  he  did 
not  discover  potassium,  he  invented  a  mode  of  preparing  it  in 


298  Philosopliicai  Society  of  Glasgow. 

practical  quantity.  He  did  not  at  once  grasp  the  significance  of 
the  elemental  characters  of  iodine  and  chlorine,  and  was  not  at 
once  prepared  to  accept  the  hydrogen  acid  theory,  but  he  did  at 
last  give  in  his  adherence,  and  his  monograph  on  iodine  and  its 
compounds  is  a  classical  research,  and  exhausted  the  subject. 
Gay-Lussac's  name  is  indissolubly  connected  with  the  discovery 
of  cyanogen,  the  first  compound  and  separable  radical.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  to  make  balloon  ascents  for  scientific  purposes.  But 
his  greatest  contribution  to  Chemical  Science  is  the  enunciation  of 
the  law  of  volume  combination,  which  has  certainly  proved  the 
resting  place  of  modern  theory.  This  law  is  the  complement  of 
that  of  combination  by  weight,  and  it  had  escaped  Lavoisier  and 
all  the  other  chemists  who  had  investigated  the  composition  of 
water.  Gay-Lussac's  researches  are  very  numerous,  and  extend  to 
every  department  of  the  science.  In  especial  he  improved  the 
method  of  making  combustions  of  organic  substances,  and  intro- 
duced the  wet  assay  of  silver  by  a  standard  solution  of  common 
salt,  the  volumetric  estimation  of  bleaching  solutions  by  arsenious 
acid,  and  alkalimetry  by  standard  sulphuric  acid.  These  are 
only  some  of  the  discoveries  and  inventions  with  which  he  enriched 
the  science,  and  whether  we  consider  his  insight  and  calm  power 
of  working  out  his  results,  his  wide  views,  his  dexterity  as  a 
manipulator,  and  the  persistence  of  his  inventions,  we  can  quite 
appreciate  and  agree  with  Sir  Humphry  Davy's  observation  that 
of  all  the  French  chemists  of  that  time  Gay-Lussac  was  the  most 
distinguished. 

It  is  too  soon,  and  it  is  hardly  the  place,  to  celebrate  the  centenary 
of  these  two  men  of  world-wide  fame,  but  it  is  well  to  recall  the 
memory  of  those  to  whom  the  human  race  is  indebted  for  its 
progress,  for  its  enlightenment,  and  for  its  well-being.  From  the 
days  of  Geber  until  now  there  never  have  been  wanting  willing  and 
able  hands  to  carry  on  the  work.  Some,  like  Davy,  with  everything 
in  their  favour,  with  almost  everything  successful,  loaded  with 
honours  and  gifts,  and  rewarded  with  the  expressed  thanks  and 
gratitude  of  those  he  benefited.  Others,  like  Glauber,  who  toiled  and 
laboured  and  made  his  discoveries,  but  received  no  good  of  them, 
was  neglected  and  died  in  abject  poverty  and  misery.  It  is  not 
for  us  to  say  what  verdict  will  be  passed  a  century  hence  on 
1878.  Before  that  time  there  will  be  a  great  sifting  of  knowledge. 
I  cannot  help  thinking  that  at  the  present  moment  wc  have  come 
to  a  period  of  stagnation  in  almost  every  department  of  human 


Mr.  John  Ferguson  on  Eleven  Centuries  of 'Chemistry.     299 

effort — notably  so  in  Chemistry.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  working 
up  of  detail,  and  efforts  are  making  to  strike  out  new  paths  in 
theory,  but  the  whole  chemical  world  is  in  a  state  of  back-water. 
It  may  not  be  in  our  time,  but  I  have  little  doubt  that  long  before 
the  year  1978  chemical  action  will  be  regarded  in  a  very  different 
way  from  what  it  is  now.  One  can  see  almost  already  that  the 
formulae  of  statical  chemistry  are  doomed.  As  expressions  of 
final  results  they  may  still  survive  for  a  while,  but,  as  all  chemists 
know,  the  chemistry  is  not  in  the  final  balanced  result  but  in  the 
transition  from  one  state  of  balanced  rest  to  another.  Dyna- 
mical formulae  must  come  sooner  or  later,  and  under  the  influence 
which  they  will  have  our  present  symbolic  system,  as  an  expression 
of  certain  effects,  will  probably  undergo  a  radical  alteration. 

Prophecy  is  at  all  times  a  dangerous  thing  to  indulge  in ;  but 
there  are  too  many  important  phenomena  waiting  explanation 
from  present  theory,  which  it  seems  unable  satisfactorily  to 
supply,  and  when  once  the  demand  for  explanation  becomes  more 
clamant,  it  is  easy  to  foresee  that  the  present  atomic  views  will  be  put 
on  their  trial.  They  have  done  good  service  in  the  past,  and  have 
guided  chemists  to  important  discoveries.  My  reading  of  past  history 
and  attempt  to  put  it  before  you  will  have  been  to  little  purpose, 
if  you  are  not  prepared  for  the  overthrow  of  this  theory  by  facts 
which  it  has  itself  been  the  means  of  discovering. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  in  conclusion,  I  feel  it  is  impossible  for 
me  to  resign  this  chair  without  thanking  you  for  the  forbearance 
which  you  have  extended  to  my  occupation  of  it.  I  have  felt  on 
many  an  occasion,  that  to  conduct  properly  the  business  of  a 
Society  like  this  required  more  care  and  attention  than  it  was 
in  my  power  to  bestow.  It  is  my  earnest  hope,  that  this  Society 
will  ultimately  take  the  position  to  which  it  is  entitled  as  the 
instrument  through  which  the  great  chemical  industries  located 
in  Glasgow  can  appeal  to  the  scientific  and  learned  public.  But 
it  requires  a  long  struggle  in  a  period  of  obscurity  before  such  a 
Society  can  emerge  to  the  full  light  of  publicity,  and  it  requires 
an  amount  of  energy  and  self-denial  in  its  members  which  have 
not  yet  been  fully  brought  into  play. 

With  this  hope,  I  beg  to  reconsign  to  your  hands  the  onerous  and 
honourable  post  of  President,  and  to  wish  the  Society  all  success. 

Postscript,  April  14,  1879. — The  limits  of  the  preceding  address 
prevented  the  subjects  being  treated  of  in  detail.     I  have  tried, 


300  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

however,  to  commemorate  the  centenary  of  Sir  H.  Davy  in  a 
series  of  articles  in  Good  Words  for  February  and  March,  and  in 
the  proximate  number  for  May,  1879;  and  that  of  Gay-Lussac  in 
a  Bhort  article  upon  that  chemist  in  the  forthcoming  volume  of  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica.  The  same  volume  will  also  contain 
what  have  proved  to  be  centenary  articles  on  Geber  and  Glaser. 
To  these,  which  are  contemporaneous,  and  in  some  respects  more 
fully  developed  parts  of  this  address,  I  would  beg  to  refer  such  of 
my  readers  as  take  interest  in  the  History  of  Chemical  Science. 

J.  F. 


IV. — On  the  Absorption  of  Gases  by  Water  and  other  Fluids.  By 
James  Snodgrass,  Senior  Assistant  "Young"  Chair  of 
Technical  Chemistry. 


[Read  before  the  Philosophical  Society,  December  18,  1878.] 


The  development  of  modern  Chemistry  is  closely  associated  with 
the  growth  of  true  conceptions  of  the  nature  and  functions  of  the 
gaseous  state  of  matter.  It  was  not  unnatural  that  a  study  of 
such  interest  and  so  fruitful  of  results  should  be  pursued  for  a  long 
time  by  experimenters,  nor  was  it  to  be  expected  that,  while  other 
properties  of  gases  were  studied,  the  phenomenon  of  absorption 
could  escape  notice.  Accordingly  we  find  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Cavendish  and  Priestley  this  subject  attracted  attention.  As  was 
to  be  expected,  cases  in  which  the  amount  of  gas  taken  up  by  the 
absorbent  were  very  large  were  first  examined.  Such  cases  as  the 
absorption  of  carbonic  dioxide  by  solutions  of  caustic  alkalies,  in 
which  not  only  are  the  amounts  absorbed  very  large,  but  the  gas 
is  permanently  fixed  and  the  quantites  independent  of  temperature 
and  pressure.  A  distinction  was  early  made  by  Dalton  between 
cases  of  this  kind,  and  those  in  which  temperature  and  pressure 
influence  the  result.     The  former  he  distinguished  as  instances  of 


Mb.  J  as.  Snodorass  on  Absorption  of  Gases  by  Water,  dec.   301 

cfiemical  absorption — the  latter  as  instances  of  mechanical  absorp- 
tion. It  is  with  the  latter  kind,  when  a  liquid  is  used  as  the 
absorbent,  I  have  now  to  deal. 

Among  the  earliest  experimenters  and  writers  upon  the  subject 
is  William  Henry.  A  paper  by  him,  entitled  "Experiments  on 
Uie  quantity  of  gas  absorbed  by  water  at  different  temperatures  and 
under  different  pressures"  is  to  be  found  in  the  Phil  Trans,  for 
1803. 

To  any  one  accustomed  to  work  with  gases,  and  therefore 
acquainted  with  the  difficult  nature  of  gas  measurements,  and  with 
the  numerous  corrections  and  precautions  that  must  be  taken  to 
secure  exact  results,  the  paper  is  of  considerable  interest. 

The  apparatus  described  in  the  paper,  though  of  very  ingenious 
construction,  was  not  capable  of  yielding  very  exact  results.  For 
another  reason  Henry's  experiments  are  inaccurate. 

For  the  various  corrections  a  number  of  constants  were  required, 
which,  when  these  experiments  were  performed,  were  unknown  or 
were  at  least  very  inexact.  The  correction  for  temperature,  for 
example,  involves  the  comparison  of  the  thermometer  used  with 
some  standard  instrument,  a  knowledge  also  of  the  co-efficients 
of  expansion  of  glass,  of  mercury,  and  of  the  gas  employed. 

Before  Regnault's  time  there  was  no  standard  in  thermometry 
that  could  pretend  to  accuracy,  and  the  rates  of  expansion  for 
increase  of  temperature  of  glass,  of  mercury,  and  of  a  permanent  gas 
were  undetermined.  The  labours  of  Regnault,  and  of  Dulong  and 
Petit  have  overcome  those  difficulties,  and  furnished  us  with  a 
series  of  constants  without  which  the  execution  of  such  a  research 
as  I  propose  would  be  nearly  hopeless. 

We  may,  then,  safely  say  that>  with  the  exception  of  Henry's 
law  of  pressure,  but  little  of  importance  had  been  accomplished  till 
Bunsen  came  on  the  field  By  this  time  these  necessary  data  had 
been  accurately  determined,  and  the  results  he  obtained  were 
therefore  free  of  error  from  such  a  source  as  false  data. 

In  the  prosecution  of  his  work  Bunsen  used  his  well-known 
absorptiometer. 

In  one  case,  however — an  important  one — he  found  that  his 
apparatus  failed.  When  the  gas  used  was  oxygen  and  the  liquid 
water,  upon  shaking  up  the  water,  oxygen,  and  mercury  together, 
the  water  lost  its  clearness  and  appeared  cloudy.  This  he  sup- 
posed to  be  due  to  the  formation  of  an  oxide  of  some  metal  dis- 
solved in  the  mercury,  and  he  reasoned  that,  if  this  were  so,  the 


302  Philotopkical  Society  of  Glaigov:, 

co-efficient  of  absorption  obtained  would  be  too  high.  He  accord- 
ingly repurified  the  mercury  and  repeated  the  experiment.  This 
time  the  opacity  of  the  water  was  not  so  great,  and  a  lower 
number  was  obtained  than  before.  The  result  he  still  considered 
unreliable,  and  ultimately  he  determined  the  eo  efficient  of  absorp- 
tion for  oxygen  by  an  indirect  method  which  I  need  not  here 
describe. 

In  the  research  which  I  purpose  carrying  out,  the  behaviour  of 
oxygen  towards  solutions  of  salts  is  likely  to  be  of  for  greater 
interest  than  that  of  any  other  gas,  and  most  likely  to  lead  to 
suggestive  results.  It  becomes  necessary  therefore  to  employ  an 
instrument  which  is  free  from  the  defect  of  Bunsen's.  The  appa- 
ratus shown  in  the  figure  is  one  by  which  the  difficulty  may  be 
overcome.  It  is  the  device  of  Mr.  Dugald  Clerk,  who  invented  it 
for  this  special  purpose,  and  so  far  as  I  have  tried  it,  I  have 
found  it  admirably  suited  to  the  end  in  view. 


This  absorptiometer  consists  essentially  of  a  glass  tube  divided 


Mr.  J  as.  Snodgrass  on  Absorption  of  Gases  by  Water,  dec.  303 

into  three  parts,  a  a  a,  by  two  stop-cocks,  s  s.  It  is  graduated  in 
millimeters  and  calibrated.  The  upper  part  of  the  tube  is  enclosed 
in  a  glass  cylinder,  c,  through  which  a  current  of  water  may  be 
passed.  The  small  thermometer,  k>  immersed  in  the  water  gives 
the  temperature.  The  india-rubber  stoppers,  i  i,  close  the  ends  of 
the  cylinders. 

In  performing  an  experiment,  the  tube  is  completely  filled  with 
mercury  and  inverted  over  the  mercury  trough,  t.     The  gas,  the 
absorption  of  which  is  to  be  determined,  is  passed  up  into  the  tube, 
the  amount  of  gas  employed  is  found  by  observing  the  volume  in 
the  tube,  and  by  reading  upon  the  scale  the  height  of  the  remain- 
ing column  of  mercury  above  the  surface   level  of  that  in  the 
trough,  at  the  same  time  noting  the  temperature  indicated  by  the 
thermometer,  and   the  height  of  the  barometer.      The  liquid  is 
now  passed  in,  till  the  mercury  stands  about  halfway  up   the 
portion  of  the  tube,  a.     The  stop-cock,  s,  is  closed  at  the  instant  the 
upper  part  of  the  tube  is  free  from  mercury.      The  under  stop- 
cock, 8,  is  now  also  closed,  and  the  apparatus  undamped  and  shaken 
in  order  to  hasten  the  absorption.      The  end  of  the  tube  is  again 
placed  in  the  mercury  trough  and  the  stop-cocks  opened  for  an 
instant.     This  is  repeated  till  no  further  absorption  takes  place. 
The  experiment  is  completed  by  observing  the  height  of  the  liquid 
and  of  the  mercurial  column  in  the  tube,  the  temperature,  and  the 
barometric  pressure.     From  the  data  thus  obtained,  the  volumes  of 
the  gas  before  and  after  absorption,  corrected  for  tension  of  vapour 
of  liquid  and  to  0°  C.  and  760mm-  pressure,  can  be  calculated.     Let 
these  volumes  be  represented  respectively  by  V  and  Yx ;  let  /*  be 
the   amount   of  liquid   contained  in  the  tube   above   the   upper 
stop-cock,  and  C  the  volume  of  gas  absorbed  by  an  unit  volume  of 
liquid ;  and  we  have  the  equation : — 

V-Yl 

=  C 

h 

It  is  essential  to  the  accuracy  of  absorptiometry  experiments 
that  the  liquids  used  should  be  free  from  all  previously  absorbed 
gases.  This  is  effected  by  boiling,  and  the  apparatus  shown  in 
Fig.  2  is  a  very  convenient  one  for  the  purpose.  It  is  made  of 
glass,  and  consists  of  a  bulb,  6,  to  which  two  tubes,  bent  as  shown 
in  the  figure,  are  sealed  hermetically.      Both  tubes  are  sligjfcitl^ 


304  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

drawn  out  at  their  extremities,  and  one  can  be  closed  by  the  stop- 
cock, 8. 


In  using  this  apparatus  the  tube  containing  the  stop-cock  is  first 
filled  with  mercury  and  the  stop-cock  closed.  The  apparatus  is 
now  placed  upon  its  support,  the  end,  a,  dipping  into  a  cup  of 
mercury,  c.  The  bulb  is  now  nearly  filled  with  liquid,  the  open 
end  immersed  in  mercury,  a  lamp  is  placed  beneath  the  bulb, 
and  the  liquid  boiled.  When  the  lamp  is  withdrawn,  upon  the 
condensation  of  vapour  in  the  bulb,  mercury  flows  into  it.  To 
transfer  the  solution,  the  vessel  to  which  we  wish  to  transfer  it 
is  filled  with  mercury  and  inverted  over  the  point  d;  the  stop-cock, 
8,  is  turned,  mercury  syphons  over  from  the  cup  to  the  bulb,  and 
an  equal  volume  of  liquid  is  drawn  from  the  bulb  to  the  vessel. 
By  means  of  the  stop-cock,  the  rate  of  flow  and  the  quantity  trans- 
ferred are  completely  at  our  command. 

By  using  an  absorptiometer  of  the  form  above  described,  it  is 
obvious  that  errors  due  to  absorption  of  the  gas  by  impure  mercury 
will  be  avoided.  I  intend,  therefore,  to  use  it  in  a  certain  research} 
the  nature  of  which  I  will  now  explain. 

In  all  the  absorption  experiments  that  have  yet  been  done  a 
considerable  number  of  gases  have  been  operated  upon,  but,  so 
far  as  I  am  aware,  only  two  liquids — water  and  alcohol.     Some 
thing  has   also  been  done   upon  solutions  of  salts  by  carbonic 
dioxide. 

The  object  of  this  research  is  to  trace,  if  possible,  any  connection 
that  may  exist  between  what  has  hitherto  been  considered  merely 
physical  phenomenon  and  chemical  action.  That  such  a  relation 
may  be  expected  there  are  numerous  analogies  to  prove.  For 
example — we  should  expect  that  as  ammonium  forms,  with  acids, 
salts  very  similar  in  appearance  to  those  formed  by  the  alkaline 


Mr.  J  as.  Snod  grass  on  Absorption  oj  Gases  by  Water,  <£x.  305 

metals  potassium  and  sodium,  it  should  also  form,  with  water,  a 
soluble  hydrate,  and  accordingly  we  find  that  it  is  powerfully 
absorbed  by  water,  and  that  the  solution  has  strong  alkaline  pro- 
perties. Another  instance  is  that  of  carbonic  dioxide.  This  radical 
is  able  under  suitable  conditions  to  unite  with  many  bases,  forming 
the  well-known  salts  called  carbonates;  such  as  sodic  carbonate, 
calcic  carbonate,  <fcc.  Reasoning  from  analogy,  we  should  expect  it 
also  to  form  with  water  hydric  carbonates.  At  ordinary  tempera- 
tures this  is  not  supposed  to  happen;  but,  at  the  same  time,  where 
we  look  for  chemical  combination  we  find  a  large  absorption,  and, 
as  a  result,  a  solution  which  exhibits  all  the  common  properties  of 
a  salt  of  hydrogen.  Proceeding  further  in  this  direction,  one  is  led 
to  imagine  that  all  cases  of  absorption  may  be  regarded  as  incipient 
chemical  action — that,  for  example,  the  absorption  of  oxygen  by 
water  points  towards  the  formation  of  hydric  peroxide,  while  the 
absorption  of  hydrogen  suggests  that,  under  proper  conditions,  a 
lower  oxide  might  be  formed,  and  so  on. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  this  will  hold  good  for  solutions 
of  salts  in  water. 

It  is  a  matter  of  some  interest,  therefore,  to  find  in  what 
manner  and  to  what  extent  a  solution,  say  of  potassic  chloride,  will 
affect  the  co-efficient  of  absorption  of  oxygen.  In  such  a  research 
I  propose  to  use  this  apparatus. 

The  research  is  of  a  nature  that  has  been  regarded  up  to  the 
present  time  as  purely  physical;  still  it  is  on  the  border-land  of 
chemistry — a  province  as  yet  but  little  cultivated,  but  which  is,  in 
my  opinion,  likely  to  prove  one  of  the  most  fertile. 


Vol.  XI.— No.  2. 


306  Philosoplncal  Society  of  Gla&yow. 


V. — New  and  Rare  Licliem  from  India  and  Uve  Himalayas. 

By  Dr.  James  Stirton,  F.L.S. 


[Read  before  the  Philosophical  Society,  January  8,  1879.] 


The  lichenology  of  India  has  only  been  very  partially  in- 
vestigated; indeed,  with  the  exception  of  a  hurried  survey  of  part 
of  the  Neilgherries,  two  or  three  nuclei,  so  to  speak,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  larger  towns,  and  Sir  J.  D.  Hooker's  collections 
from  the  southern  slopes  and  spurs  of  the  Himalayas,  the  whole 
may  be  said  in  this  respect  to  be  a  terra  incognita. 

The  present  collection  by  Dr.  George  Watt,  Professor  of  Botany 
in  Chinsurah,  was  mainly  secured  from  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood of  his  own  residence,  although  several  excursions  to  the 
more  prominent  heights  within  a  day's  journey  extended  these 
limits  somewhat.  A  second  extensive  collection  was  made  by  the 
same  botanist  from  one  or  two  of  the  highest  summits  of  the 
Neilgherries. 

Such  lichens  as  have  been  secured  from  the  plains  of  India 
betray  a  decidedly  tropical  character,  and  several  genera  are 
accordingly  largely  represented,  as  Arthonia,  Graphis,  Glyphis,  <fcc. 
Such  are,  generally  speaking,  in  a  satisfactory  state  of  develop- 
ment, but  not  so  the  rest,  and  especially  the  saxicolous  lichens,  a 
fair  proportion  of  which  is  included. 

At  this  stage  of  my  investigations  a  question  naturally  obtruded 
itself.  How  has  this  backward  condition  been  induced?  or  rather, 
to  what  can  be  attributed  this  general  arrestment  of  development? 
And  here  it  may  be  as  well  to  state,  that  in  what  follows  special 
reference  is  made  to  saxicolous  lichens,  as  in  such  nothing,  except 
a  few  mineral  elements,  can  be  obtained  and  assimilated,  and 
accordingly  all  the  material  for  development  must  be  derived  from 
the  atmosphere.  In  corticolous  lichens,  on  the  contrary,  the 
moisture,  &c,  which  may  be  absorbed  and  retained  by  the  bark 
may  be  rendered  available  to  the  further  growth  and  development 
of  the  parasitic  lichen.  I  say  that  such  absorption  from  the  tree 
is  possible,  and  my  more  recent  researches  tend  to  the  view  that 
such  is  even  probable,  notwithstanding  that  almost  all  lichen- 
ologiste  maintain  the  contrary. 


Dr.  J.  Stihtun  on  tltv  LLckeuology  of  India.  307 

In  order  that  you  may  the  more  readily  comprehend  my  drift, 
it  will  be  necessary  in  the  first  place  to  revert  to  one  or  two 
tolerably  well  established  facts  in  the  life-history  of  lichens,  and 

1st.  A  8  to  their  Longevity. — This  longevity  now  scarcely  admit3 
of  doubt.  After  a  certain  degree  of  comparatively  rapid  develop- 
ment, the  same  patches,  especially  on  stones,  may  be  watched 
from  year  to  year  without  perceiving  any  apparent  extension  of 
their  limits  or  variation  in  their  configuration,  and  at  whatever 
season  of  the  year  these  patches  are  examined,  mature  and 
immature  spores  in  varying  proportion  may  be  detected.  In 
localities  more  or  less  densely  shaded,  or  in  others  exposed  to 
more  continuous  moisture  throughout  the  year,  such  patches  are 
apt  to  degenerate  and  become  barren,  if  ever  they  were  fertile,  or 
effloresce  into  soredioid  extensions. 

Such  conditions  cannot  be  said  to  exist  in  India.  There  is 
no  such  degeneration  seen.  Apothecia,  when  present,  are  almost 
invariably  immature,  as  indicated  by  the  spores,  which  are  very 
seldom  differentiated,  or,  if  so,  in  a  certain  small  proportion  of  the 
thecie,  still  give  the  impression  to  an  experienced  eye  that  they 
have  not  reached  maturity.  With  the  exception  of  two  or  three 
cosmopolitan  species,  as  Lecanora  atra  and  one  or  two  Lecidese 
having  fuscous  spores,  which,  from  the  fact  of  their  being  so 
widely  spread,  must  thrive  under  very  varying  conditions  of 
climate,  stone  after  stone  may  be  taken  up  and  as  often  thrown 
aside  with  feelings  of  weariness  and  disgust. 

Again,  it  is  well  known  that  lichens  will  sustain  with  impunity, 
or  without  apparent  lessening  of  their  vitality,  long  periods  of 
drought,  provided  they  obtain  thereafter  adequate  continuous 
moisture  to  develop  them  to  maturity,  and  the  maturity  of  the 
spores  is  of  course  necessary  to  the  propagation  of  separate  and 
distant  patches.  On  the  supposition,  however,  that  such  floods  as 
occur  in  India  are  not  now  (whatever  they  may  have  been)  of 
sufficient  duration  to  develop  mature  spores,  lichens,  and  it  may 
be  certain  tribes  of  mosses,  may  be  propagated  for  a  length  of 
time  by  mere  continuous  extension  of  the  patches  previously  in 
existence.  Such  would  seem  to  be  the  case  in  the  instances 
examined.  Certain  patches  are  seen  to  invade  every  available 
space  of  the  stone  exposed  to  the  atmosphere  and  light,  while  all 
are  in  the  arrested  condition  of  development  already  indicated. 

That  such  a  condition  of  things  as  now  obtains  cannot  have 


308  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

been  prolonged  for  indefinite  ages  is  in  rerum  iiatura  a  legitimate 
inference — in  other  words,  plants  which  had  previously  thriven 
and  developed  in  the  usual  way  are  now  reduced  to  the  last  method 
of  propagation,  and  may  accordingly  be  expected  to  become 
extinct,  unless  the  conditions  of  atmosphere  qtid  moisture  are  con- 
siderably improved.  The  conclusion  from  this  to  which  I  wish 
to  draw  your  attention  now  becomes  evident,  viz.,  that  there  is  a 
broad  belt  of  Middle  India,  extending  generally  in  a  south-westerly 
direction,  in  which  there  is  less  continuous  moisture  than  formerly 
throughout  the  year.  Whether  the  aggregate  of  moisture  is 
lessened  or  not  does  not  come  within  our  present  scope  ;  but  that 
the  floods  (if  heavier  at  all)  are  of  shorter  duration,  and  followed 
by  longer  tracks  of  a  drier  atmosphere  than  heretofore,  I  am  strongly 
inclined  to  assert  and  maintain. 

To  those  of  you  who  are  not  conversant  with  the  habits  and 
modes  of  propagation  of  such  minute  plants  this  may  appear  a 
somewhat  sweeping  assertion,  and  one  that  rests  on  very  slender 
grounds.  But  when  I  find  in  other  tracts  of  the  earth's  surface, 
as  in  the  dry  mining  district  of  Upper  Chili,  that  corresponding 
plants  growing  also  on  stones  show  no  such  retrograde  action,  but 
in  almost  every  instance  reveal  fully  developed  conditions,  my 
position  is  not  so  untenable  as  at  first  sight  it  may  appear.  Nay, 
meteorological  data,  so  far  as  they  have  gone,  tend  to  the  opinion 
that  the  arid,  almost  sterile,  part  of  Chili  is  lessening  as  time  goes 
on.  Whereas  were  its  atmospheric  conditions  becoming  drier, 
indications  delicate  but  sure  would  have  been  aflbrded  by  the  state 
of  vegetation  of  the  smaller  crustaceous  lichens.  Of  course  such 
conditions  of  the  vegetative  processes  of  lichens  merely  tell  of 
present  and  ])ast  atmospheric  states  (within  certain  limits),  and 
cannot  from  their  very  nature  enable  us  to  forecast  in  the  time 
sense  of  the  term  ;  but  as  nature's  operations  on  a  grand  scale  are 
regulated  by  general  laws,  upon  whose  uniformity  all  our  calcula- 
tions for  the  future  are  based,  the  chances  are  that  unless  a 
maximum  degree  of  dryness  for  this  belt  of  India  has  been  reached, 
such  dryness  will  increase.  Moreover,  if  one  may  judge  by  analogy, 
in  the  case  of  Syria,  Arabia,  and  part  of  Persia  such  dryness  is  far 
from  having  reached  its  maximum.  In  our  estimate  of  the  changes 
produced  or  likely  to  bo  produced  on  lichens  by  atmospheric  in- 
fluences (gradual  as  they  generally  are),  we  must  recollect  that 
the  same  lichen  may  very  probably  last  through  several  generations 
of  man. 


Dr.  J.  Stirton  on  t/ie  Liclcenoloyy  of  India.  309 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to 
note  that  in  the  case  of  the  North  of  Africa,  including  a  part  of 
Sahara,  there  are  not  awanting  indications  of  an  increase  of  moisture 
around  its  fringes ;  and,  in  corroboration  of  this,  recent  determina- 
tions of  lichens  in  Algeria  and  southwards  reveal  a  greater 
completeness  of  the  vegetative  processes  of  the  comparatively  few 
lichens  found  there. 

As  on  a  former  occasion,  I  must  leave  rather  hurriedly  this 
speculative  part  of  my  subject.  My  opinions  may  of  course 
undergo  modifications  as  facts  accumulate,  but  I  have  felt  bound 
to  give  expression  to  thern  even  in  my  present  state  of  progress, 
more  especially  as  they  have  impressed  me  strongly,  and  this  even 
at  the  risk  of  having  them  ultimately  upset.  Besides,  I  think 
such  opinions  are  to  a  certain  extent  corroborated  by  recent 
statistics  of  atmospheric  conditions  of  those  very  parts  of  India  I 
have  indicated. 

In  the  following  I  have  restricted  myself  to  the  diagnosis  of 
those  lichens  considered  new,  while  in  others  I  have  merely 
inserted  remarks  upon  such  as  presented  peculiarities  of  structure 
worthy  of  notice. 

Sphinctrina  nitidula  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  nunc  albus  nonnihil  farinaceus  bene  definitus,  nunc 
pallidus  tenuis ;  apothecia  nigra  nitida  sessilia  (latit.  '1  —  '2  mm.) 
verruciformia,  epithecio  bene  definito  fere  poriformi  rotundato, 
ovali  vel  nonnihil  irregulari,  ssepe  albo-obducto ;  spore  fuscse 
ellipsoidese  vel  oblongo  -  ellipsoidere  1  —  septate,  *005  —  #007  X 
•0035  -  *0045  mm.     Corticola,  Neilgberries. 

In  one  instance  this  lichen  may  be  said  to  be  parasitic  on  the 
thallus  of  another,  presumably  that  of  a  Pertusaria;  in  another 
instance  the  thallus  can  scarcely  be  reckoned  alien. 

Tylophoron  pulchellum  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  virescens  vel  cinereo-virescens  bene  e volutin*;  apothecia 
primum  innata  et  albo-velata  demum  erumpentia  sessilia  vel 
elevato-sessilia  nigra  mediocria  (latit.  circiter  *4  mm.)  plana,  e 
massa  sporali  constituta ;  spore  fuscte  vel  fusco-nigre  1  —  septatse 
constrictiusculae  et  apicibus  acutiusculae,  -01  -  *014  x  "005  -  *007 
mm      Corticola  prope  Chinsurah,  a  eel.  A.  Watt  lectum. 


310  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow, 

The  thallus  is  well  developed,  and  contains  gonidia  of  average 
size,  at  times  oblong  and  presenting  a  tendency  to  cohere  in  monili- 
form  chains. 


Usnea  subsordida,  sp.  no  v. 

Thallus  sordide  cinerascens  vel  pallide  cervinus  (K.  fl.)  rigid  us 
caespitosus  papilloso-asper  et  saepe  papillis  apice  sorediiformibus, 
breviter  fibrillosus  (medulla  et  axis  K  fl.  dein  sanguineo-rubentes) ; 
apothecia  mediocria  (latit.  2-4  mm.)  fibrilloso-ciliata  plerumque 
terminalia,  albidopruinosa ;  spone  8n»  incolores  simplices  late 
ellipsoideae,  '01  -  014  X  '007  -  '01  mm.  Ad  ramulos  (Neil- 
gherries). 

Physcia  rubricosa  sp.  now 

Thallus  ferrugineo-rubricosu8  vel  fere  vinosorubricosus  firm  us 
adpressus,  laciniatus,  laciniis  planis  multifidis  apicibus  obtusis 
crenato-incisis,  margine  ciliatis,  ciliis  nigris  vel  nigricantibus  saepe 
thyrsoideo-ramosis  rigidis,  subtus  pallidus  vel  pallide  nifescens 
nigro-rhizinosus,  intus  rubricosus  vel  potius  pallide  rosellus; 
apothecia  fusco-nigra  mediocria  pedicellato-elevata,  margine  arete 
inflexo,  saepe  epithecio  fere  rimoso-hiascente;  spone  (6  -  8)nae  ellip- 
roideae  fuscae  1  -  septatae  nucleate,  '03  -  -042  x  '015  -  -018  mm. 
Corticola  (Neilgherries). 

The  thallus  is  pervaded  by  a  substance  analogous  to  chrysophanic 
acid,  and  such  as  to  give  a  red  reaction  with  K. 

Physcia  consimilis  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  cinereus  vel  cinereo-virescens  vel  glauco-cinereo-virescens 
(K.  fl.  C.  fl.  sed  medulla  K.  -)  adpressus,  rugulosus,  sorediis 
pallidis  parvis  et  isidiis  parvis  coralloideis  saepe  creberriter  ad- 
spersus,  ambitu  laciniatus;  apothecia  nigra  saepissime  caesio- 
pruinosa,  lecanorina  mediocria  (latit  '4  -  1*2  mm.)  plana,  margine 
albido  laevigata  fere  integro  cincta;  spone  8nae  fuscae  simplices 
vel  interdum  spurie  1  -  septatae  oblongae  vel  obtuse  fusiformes, 
•014  -  -023  X  '00C  -  O07  mm.;  paraphyses  distinctae  graciles 
apicibus  fuscescentibus  clavatis  interdum  raraosis ;  hypothecium 
crassum  fusco-nigrum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  intense  ccerulescens. 
Corticola  prope  Chinsurah.     Affinis  (forte  nimium)  Ph.  confluenti. 

I  think  this  and  the  following  should  be  separated  (at  least  as 
sub-species)  from  their  respective  allies. 


Dr.  J.  Stirton  on  the  Lichenology  of  India.  311 

Pyxine  cognata  sp.  nov. 

Similis  P.  Meissnerii  sed  thallo  pallide  glaucescente  (K.  -  C.  -) 
etiam  medulla  flavescente  (K.  —  C.  -  );  spore  8nee  fuscae  oblongae 
2  —  nucleate  saepius  nucleis  tubulo  tenui  conjunctis,  rarius  1  - 
septatae,  -018  -  -025  x  '0065  -  -0085  mm;  paraphyses  confertae 
graciles  saepissime  valde  indistinctae  et  tunc  quasi  gelatinosae 
apicibus  coeruleo-nigris  (K.  violaceis).  Hypothecium  fuscum  vel 
fusco-nigrum  crassiusculum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  coerulescens.  Corti- 
cola  (Neilgherries). 

Placodium  demissum  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  vel  pallide  lutescens  nonnihil  albido-pruinosus 
opacus  submonophyllus,  versus  ambitum  lobatulus  vel  crenato- 
incisus,  mediocris  (latit.  (#5  —  1)  —  pollicaris),  K.  vix  mutatus  vel 
sordide  flavescens ;  apothecia  pallide  cervina  vel  rufescentia  demum 
nigricantia,  adnata  plana  (latit.  *4  -  '7  mm.),  margine  thallino 
albido  fere  integro  interdum  crenulato,  demum  fere  excluso  cincta; 
sporae  8nae  incolores  ellipsoideae  simplices,  -0075  -  *01  X  '0045  -  006 
mm.,  paraphyses  crassiusculae  non  bene  distinctae  apicibus  fulves- 
centibus ;  hypothecium  incolor.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  coerulescens  dein 
fulvescens.     Saxicola  prope  Chinsurah. 

Lecanora  ingesta  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  lutescens  vel  pallide  flavescens  (K.  fl.,  C.  fl.)  minute  et 
congesto-granulosus  crassiusculus  determinatus  (An  semper?) ; 
apothecia  nigra  vel  fusco-nigra  (latit.  circ.  *5  mm.)  innata,  con- 
caviuscula  vel  planiuscula,  margine  albido  vel  pallido  laevigata 
cincta ;  sporae  (2  -  8)  nae  ellipsoideae  incolores  simplices  episporio 
lato,  *015  -  '024  x  '01  -  *014  mm.,  paraphyses  graciles  satis  bene 
distinctae  apicibus  conglutinatis  fuscescentibus ;  hypothecium 
crassum  fuscum,  in  lamina  tenui  visum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  leviter 
coerulescens  dein  fulvescens.     Corticola. 

This  lichen  is  certainly  closely  allied  to  L.  granifera,  but  the 
habit  is  very  peculiar. 

Lecanora  fimbriatula  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  aut  nonnihil  glaucescenti-pallidus,  laevigatas 
hinc  inde  rimulosus,  ambitu  saepe  byssino-radiatus  (K.  fl.);  apothecia 
sessilia  nigra  plana  mediocria  (latit.  '3  -  '5  mm.),  margine  thallino 
albo  laavigato  integro  vel  fere  integro  cincta;  spore  8n»  incolores 
ellipsoideae  simplices  (episporio  lato),  '012  -  *015  x  "0065  -  -0075 


312  PhUomtpkkai  Society  of  Glasgow. 

mm.,  paraphyses  gradles  confertae  non  bene  discrete  aptdbus 
nigris  vel  coeraleo-nigris  conglutinatis,  hypothecium  rufescens  Tel 
fasco-rufescens.  Iodo  geL  hym.  caerulescens  (non  intense).  Corticola 
(Neilgherries).     Affinis  (at  videtur)  Lecanone  egranukwe  (XyLV 

Pertusaria  snbochracea  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  latescens  tennis  fere  oontinnns  laevigatas  (K.  (L, 
dein  C.  addito,  belle  rofo-aurantiacus  sed  C.  seorsnm  navens); 
apothecia  sparsa  minnta  sub-hemispluerica  mono-pyrenia,  ostiolo 
pallido  vel  pallide  rufescente  punctiformi:  spone  (4  -6-S?)na? 
nigresoentes  ellipsoidea?  simplices,  035  -  048  X  <»1S  —  027  mm., 
paraphyses  conglutinate.  Iodo  theca?  ooemlesoentes ;  K.  protoplasma 
sporaram  sordide  violasoens.    Ad  ramnlos  arboram  (Neilgberries). 

Arete  affinis  P.  ochracea?  (Krpr.)  sed  sporis  multo  minoribus, 
kc 

Schistostoma  dehisoens  gen.  nov. 

Thallus  albidos,  vix  olios;  apothecia  nigra  depressa  vix  pro- 
minula,  rotunda  oblonga  vel  fere  linearia  et  interdum  radiatim 
disposita,  ssepius  nonnihil  albido-velata  primum  occlosa :  epithe- 
cium  primo  fissora  coarctata  (longit.  interdum  usque  ad  1*8  mm.) 
indicatum,  dein  apertom  planum  carneom  nonnihil  pruinosum ; 
peritheciom  demom  marginibos  evert  is :  spone  Sna?  incolores 
oblongs  vel  oblongo-ellipsoidea?  (5-7)  -  loculares,  ssepissime 
locolis  semel  et  bis  divisis,  018  -  024  X  003  -  01  mm.,  para- 
physes distincte  crass*,  hjpotheciom  incolor.  Iodo  geL  hym.  hand 
tincta  nisi  navescens  nee  sporse  sed  protoplasma  thecarom  fulvescens. 
Corticola  prope  Chinsurah. 

This  lichen  presents  peculiarities  worthy  of  notice.  At  first  the 
apothecia  are  closed  by  the  perithecium,  whose  margins  imder  a 
Codington  Lens  are  seen  to  be  sharply  defined  and  in  close  appo- 
sition, thus  forming  a  slit  more  or  less  prolonged.  These  margins 
afterwards  separate,  and  become  raised  and  even  everted.  At 
first  this  opening  is  partial,  either  in  the  middle  or  at  either 
extremity ;  at  length  the  whole  epithecium  is  exposed,  especially 
when  the  black  perithecium  is  moistened.  Occasionally  several 
apothecia  are  connected  in  a  radiating  manner,  when  the  fissures 
show  accordingly. 

Several  of  the  Thelotremata  show  peculiarities  approaching  those 
mentioned  above,  bot  I  cannot  recall  any  where  the  ostiola  mani- 
fest themselves  in  the  first  instance  as  fissures,  however  irregular 
they  may  afterwards  become. 


Dr.  J.  Stirton  on  the  LicJienology  of  India,  313 

Ascidium  exsertum  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  tenuis  laevigatas  fere  continuus  sat  determinatus; 
perithecia  nigra  nitida  prominula  hemisphserica  (latit.  *4  -  *7  mm), 
nuda  vel  saepe  (basi)  thallo  nonnihil  cincta,  ostiolo  rotundo  minuto 
(diam.  *1  -  -2  mm.),  epithecio  depresso  interdum  papilla  obturas- 
cente  albida ;  spone  (2-4)  nae  incolores  cylindraceee  muralidivisae, 
•18  -  -24  x  'Oil  -  -015  mm.;  paraphyses  confertce  graciles.  Iodo 
gel.  hym.  vinose  rubescens  vel  interdum  vinose  rubens,  prsecedente 
coerulescentia.     Corticola  (Neilgherries). 

Ascidium  exsertum  var.  mollius,  sporis  (2  -  8)nis  incoloribus, 
•1  - '14  x  '009- 012  mm.,  paraphysibus  molliusculis  gracilibus 
non  bene  distinctis.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  leviter  ccerulescens  vel  vix 
tincta. 

Of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  packages  from  Chinsurah  is  a 
corticolous  lichen  of  the  Lecidea  luteola  type,  whose  characters 
approach  sufficiently  closely  those  of  the  var.  fusco-rubella  (Hffm.). 
The  spermatia  are  slender  and  arcuate,  -014  -  022  x  '0006  mm. 
The  thallus  is  of  the  usual  greenish  colour,  but  has  peculiar  yet 
constant  reactions  with  K.,  viz.,  greenish-yellow,  then  slowly 
developing  a  ferruingous-red  colour,  especially  near  the  border  of 
the  spot  moistened.  The  ultimate  colour  is  aurantiaco-rufous.  I 
propose  meanwhile  calling  this  lichen  Lecidea  Chinsurensis. 

Lecidea  venustula  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  virescens  vel  pallide  cinereo-virescens,  tenuis  nonnihil 
granulosus;  apothecia  fusca  vel  fusco-nigra  elevato-sessilia  parva 
(latit.  '2  -  *4  mm.)  plana  rugosula  vix  marginata  vel  immarginata, 
intus  fuscescentia ;  thecse  monosporse,  sporaa  incolores  vel  leviter 
fuscescentes  oblongse  vel  oblongo-cylindracese,  mural idivisce,  04  - 
•07  X  '01  -  -015  mm. ;  paraphyses  parcse  non  bene  discrete  fere 
conglutinatre  apicibus  concoloribus ;  hypothecium  fuscum  vel  in 
lamina  crassiucula  visum  fusco-nigrum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  ccerulescens 
dein  obscure  fulvescens,  sporse  lutescentes.  Ad  Bambusam  prope 
Chinsurah. 

Lecidea  aggrediens  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  cinereus  rugulosus  crassiusculus  (K.  leviter 
flavescens,  dein  C.  addito,  aurantiacus,  sed  C.  seorsum  erythrinosus); 
apothecia  nigra  adnata  planiuacula  marginata  (latit.   6  -  1*3  mm.); 


314  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

spone  8nte  fuse*  1  -  septata?  ellipsoidea?,  variantes,  "016  -  -028  X 
-0075  -  013  mm.,  paraphyses  cinerasoeiites  graciles  non  bene  dis- 
tinct»,graiixilo8<>inspersiefuseescenti-capitatse ;  hypothecium  nigrum 
crassnm.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  intense  ccerulescens.  Cortioola  (Neil- 
gherries). 

Lecidea  incongruens  sp.  nov. 

Thalliis  nigro-cinereus  furfiiraceus  tenuis :  apothecia  adnata 
minuta  (la tit  circ.  -2  mm.)  pallida  vel  pallide  luteseentia  planius- 
cula,  in  conceptaculo  pallidiore  integro  reeepta;  spone  Sua? 
incolores  fusiformes  interclum  curvula*  (4-6)  -  nucleate?.  -014  — 
02  x  O03  -  0035  mm.,  paraphyses  graciles  distinctae  apicibos 
incoloribus  clavatis  articulatis  et  interdum  ramosis :  hypothecium 
inoolor.  Iodo  geL  hym.  baud  tincta.  Gonidia  mediocria  vel 
niajuscula,  diam.  (O0S-  014)  mm.  virescentia.  Corticola  prope 
Chinsiirah. 

One  cannot  avoid  the  suspicion,  notwithstanding  the  presence  in 
abundance  of  gonidia,  that  this  plant  is  a  fungus  belonging  to  a 
genus  nearly  allied  to  Peziza ;  that  it  Ls  a  parasitic  fungus  on  a 
barren  lichen-thallus. 

Melaspilea  symplecta  (Strn.),  ride  Proc.  Phil  Soc.,  Glasg..  vol. 
xL,  p.  106. 

Melaspilea  insitiva  sp.  nov. 

Apothecia  sessilia  nigra  minuta  (la tit  *2  mm.  vel  minora) 
planiuscula  acute  marginata :  spone  8  me  in  thecis  saccatis  incolores 
obovata?  (uno  apice  acutiuscula?).  1  —  septativ,  016  -  022  x  OOS  - 
01  mm.,  paraphyses  graciles  irregulares  satis  distincta?  divaricato- 
ramosa?  apicibus  fuscescentibus :  hypothecium  infuscatum.  Iodo 
geL  hym.  non  tincta  nisi  flavescens,  theea?  pallide  fulvescentes. 
Parasitica  supra  thallum  Pertusariie  leioplacse  prope  Chinsurah. 

The  paraphyses  are  rendered  distinct  by  K . 

Graphis  coarctata  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  continuus  (K.  -  )  crassiusculus  (crassit.  circ.  1 
mm.)  minutissime  papillosus  (sub  lente):  apothecia  nigra  innata 
confertissima  tenella  (la tit.  06  -  *1  mm.)  dexuosa  vel  contorta 
linearia  ramosula,  epithecio  rimiformi;  spone  Sna?  incolores 
oblongse,  interdum  obovatae,  (4  -  6)  -  loculares,  012-019  x  O05 
-  O07  mm.,  paraphyses  crassiuscula?  distinct^  irregulares  apicibus 
fuscescentibus  vel  fere  incoloribus  :  perithelium  latorale  profunduui 


Dr.  J.  Stirton  on  tJie  Liclienology  of  India.  315 

fusco-nigrum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  leviter  vel  obsolete  coerulescens, 
spore  coemlescentes  vel  ccanileo-infuscataa.  Corticola  prope  Chin- 
siirah. 

This  is  evidently  distinct  from  Gr.  myriocarpa  (Fee). 

Graphis  capillacea  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  albidus  vel  pallidus  (K.  fl.  dein  intense  et  persistenter 
rubens)  continuus  crassiusculus  (crassit.  *15  -  '25  mm.) ;  apothecia 
nigra  innata  tenella  confertissima  elongata  flexuosa  vel  contorta, 
ssepe  radiatim  disposita;  epithecium  angustum  rimiforme,  peri- 
thecium  laterale  tenuiusculum  profundum  (latit.  *06  -  *1  mm.), 
marginc  thallino  lato  discisso  cinctum  ;  spore  8me  incolores  8  - 
10  -  loculares,  -028  -  -04  x  *007  -  '009  mm.,  paraphyses  crassae. 
Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta,  spore  coemlescentes.  Corticola  prope 
Chinsurah.  Distinct  from  Gr.  tenella  (Ach.)  in  the  thick  thallus, 
reaction,  <fcc. 

Graphis  persulcata  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  tenuis;  apothecia  nigra  nuda  prominula  (latit. 
•25  -  4  mm.)  conferte  striatula  (striis  utrinque  5-7)  oblonga  vel 
elongata  et  flexuosa  simplicia  rarius  ramosula,  apicibus  plerumque 
obtusa,  epithecio  rimiformi,  peri  thee  io  crasso  integro ;  spore  8  nse 
oblongo-fusiformes,  6  -  9  -  loculares,  *02  —  03  x  '005  —  -0065  mm., 
paraphyses  distinctae  sparsiusculae  apicibus  incoloribus  vix  clavatis ; 
hypothecium  nigrum.     Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta.     Corticola. 

Perhaps  this  is  Gr.  endoxantha  (Nyl.),  but  as  the  spores  in  the 
latter  have  not  been  seen  rightly  developed  there  is  a  doubt; 
besides,  the  present  lichen  is  not  of  a  yellow  colour  within. 

Graphis  instrata  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  vix  ullus  visibilis;  apothecia  depresso-innata  (in  Cortice?) 
radiatim  ramosa  vel  flexuosa  apice  obtusa,  epithecio  csesio-pruinoso 
concavo  vel  planiusculo  (latit.  '2  -  3  mm.),  perithecio  tenui  laterali 
rufescente;  sporse  8me  incolores  vetustre  fuscescentes,  oblongse 
8  -  loculares  interdum  6  -  loculares  (loculis  mediis  compressis 
angustis,  apicalibus  rotundatis),  *028  -  '032  x  '008  -  #0095  mm., 
paraphyses  crassiusculse  sat  distinctoe  granuloso-inspersae ;  hypo- 
thecium incolor.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta,  spore  fulvescentes 
(ccerulescentia  prascedente  nulla).     Corticola  prope  Chinsurah. 

The  apothecia  appear  as  if  insculpted  in  a  smooth  pale  buff- 
coloured  bark.     The  perithecium  shows  as  a  tbin  rufous  line. 


316  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

Graphis  intermediella  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  glaucescens  vel  pallide  glauoescens  crassiusculus  (craasit. 
•2  -  *35  mm.)  sequabilis,  fere  continuus  (K.  -  C.  -  )  ;  apothecia 
depresso-innata  elongata  flexuoea  utrinque  discissa,  epithecio 
angiiste  rimiformi,  perithecio  tenui  fusco  vel  fuscescente  breviter 
laterali;  sporse  8nse  incolores  oblongse  8  -  11  -  loculares  plerumque 
10  -  loculares,  '032  -  *045  x  *008  -  01 1  mm.  iodo  ccerulescentes, 
paraphyses  conferta) ;  hypothecium  incolor.  Corticola  prope  Chin- 
surah. 

I  have  been  tempted  to  separate  this  from  either  Gr.  malacodes 
(Nyl.)  or  Gr.  glauoescens  (Fe'e),  as  it  partakes  of  the  characters  of 
each.  Besides,  in  the  case  of  Gr.  glaucescens  such  discrepancies 
exist  between  the  descriptions  of  it  given  by  Dr.  Nylander  in 
the  various  pamphlets  issued  by  him,  as  to  give  rise  to  a  doubt 
whether  such  descriptions  can  refer  to  one  and  the  same  lichen. 
According  to  M.  Fee's  description  (so  far  as  it  goes),  the  present 
lichen  can  scarcely  be  referred  to  Gr.  glaucescens. 

Graphis  celata  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallid  us  vel  nonnihil  pallide  glaucescens  tenuis;  apo- 
thecia a  thallo  omnino  obtecta,  prominula  (latit  '2  -  -3  mm.) 
longa  flexuosa  vel  contorta,  apicibus  obtusa,  perithecio  crasso 
integre  nigro,  conferte  striatulo,  epithecio  rimiformi ;  spone  2nie 
incolores  obtuse  fusiformes  (12  -  18)  -loculares,  *065  -  *105  X  "01 
-  *015  mm.;  paraphyses  distinct®  crassiusculre  confertre.  Iodo  geL 
hym.  haud  tincta  nisi  fJavescens,  spone  ccerulescentes.     Corticola. 

The  number  of  spores  in  each  theca  varies  from  1  to  3,  but  in 
much  the  larger  proportion  there  are  only  2.  K.  has  a  yellow 
then  an  orange  red  reaction  only  on  the  parts  of  the  thallus  close 
to  the  apothecia,  or  on  that  covering  them.  Tins  lichen  has  a 
close  affinity  to  Gr.  dendroidea  (Leigh t.),  but  there  are  manifest 
differences  e.g.,  the  apothecia  are  always  covered  by  the  thallus, 
and  have  their  extremities  rounded,  not  acute,  while  the  spores  are 
much  larger. 

Graphis  seola  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallide  glaucescens  vel  pallide  cinereo-glaucescens  cras- 
siusculus laevigatas  (K.  -  ) ;  apothecia  obtecta,  tota  pallida,  innata 
vel  in  protuberantiis  thallinis  parum  elevatis  inclusa,  elongata, 
flexuosa  vel  radiatim  disposita;  sporae  (1  -  2  -  3  -  4)na)  lutescentes 
oblongie  vel  ellipsoidese  muralidivisae,  -075  -  09  X  *03  -  '032 
mm.,  majores  '135  X   04C  mm. ;  paraphyses  distinctee  crassiusculie 


Dr.  J.  Stirton  on  the  Licfierwlogy  of  India.  317 

apicibus  late  fusco-rufescentibus  conglutinatis ;  hypothecium  fere 
incolor.  Iodo  geL  hym.  ccerulescens  prsesertim  supra,  spore 
infuscatae,  protoplasma  thecarum  vinose  rubens.  Thecae  arthonioideae. 
Corticola. 

Graphis  tuberculosa  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  cervinus  vel  pallide  rufescens  crassiusculus  rugulosus 
(K.  fl.  dein  rubens);  apothecia  phlyctidea  concoloria  prominula 
oblonga  flexuosa  interdum  ratnosula,  marginibus  thallinis  crassis 
interrupte  rugulosis  cincta.  Thecae  monosporae,  sporae  ellipsoideae 
vel  oblongo-ellipsoideae  incolores  muralidivisae,  -075  -  #16  X  '032  - 
'06  mm.,  iodo  non  tinctae ;  paraphyses  graciles  in  geL  firma 
involutae ;  hypothecium  lutescens.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  passim  obsolete 
ccerulescens  vel  non  tincta.     Corticola. 

The  broad  rugulose  prominent  apothecia  present  a  resemblance 
to  those  of  some  Phlyc tides.  I  have  not  seen  a  description  of  Gr. 
pseudo-phlyctis  (NyL). 

Opegrapha  tenuior  sp.  nov. 

Apothecia  parasitica  prominula  parva  (latit.  circ.  '13  mm.) 
rotundata,  oblonga  vel  elongata  (longit.  '2  -  *9  mm.),  plerumque 
simplicia,  interdum  radiatim  disposita,  epithecio  rimiformi,  intus 
pallida  vel  pallide  cinerascentia;  sporae  (4  -  8)nae  incolores  fusi- 
formes  6  -  10  -  septatae  haloniata?,  04  -  #06  x  *006  -  '009  mm. ; 
paraphyses  irregulares  graciles,  satis  bene  distinctae  divaricato- 
ramosae  granuloso-inspersaj ;  hypothecium  fusco-nigrum  tenue. 
Gel.  hym.  iodo  vinose  rubens. 

Supra  thallum  Thelotrematis  cujusdam  (vetusti)  prope  Chin- 
surah. 

Opegrapha  laeta  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  tenuis  virescenti-flavescens ;  apothecia  nigra  prominula 
rotundata,  oblonga  vel  elongatulo-oblonga  simplicia,  marginata, 
epithecio  aperto  piano ;  sporae  (6  -  8)nse  incolores  obtuse  fusi- 
formes,  saepe  curvulae  4  -  6  -  septatae  plerumque  5  -  septata?,  #028 
-  -036  X  "006  -  *008  mm.,  paraphyses  graciles  irregulares;  hypo- 
thecium nigrum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  vinose  rubens.  Corticola  prope 
Nona  (Hooghley). 

Platygrapha  atomella  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  tenuis  nonnihil  farinaceus  (K.  ft.  dein  auranti 


318  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

rubens);  apothecia  in  tuberculis  (latit.  vix  *2  mm.)  thallinis  parum 
prominulis  ssepe  circumscissis  inclusa,  primum  fere  obtecta  et  tunc 
punctiformia  dein  aperta,  conferta  et  ssepe  moniliformi-disposita  vel 
congregata ;  spore  8nae  inoolores  aciculares  vix  septate,  04  -  055 
X  vix  '002  mm.;  paraphyses  graciles  nonnihil  irregulares,  apice 
fuscescentes ;  hypothecium  tenue  nigricans.  Iodo  thecse  vinose 
rubescentes  vel  fulvescentes,  cseteroquin  gel.  hym.  non  tincta. 
Oorticola  in  sum  mis  jugis  Neilgherries. 

Platygrapha  incurvula  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  albidus  vel  pallidus  tenuis  rimulosus;  apothecia  nigra 
sessilia  rotundata  oblonga  vel  nonnibU  irregularia  (longit.  25  -  1  -2 
mm.),  margine  albo  lato  prominulo  fere  integro  cincta;  sporse 
(4-8  ?)nce  inoolores  aciculares  vix  septate,  023  -  035  x  circ. 
O025  mm.;  paraphyses  satis  distinctaa  vix  clavataj;  hypothecium 
crassum  fusco-nigrum  vel  nigrum.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  leviter  cceru- 
lescens dein  sordide  lutescens.     Corticola  (Neilgherries). 

Arthonia  ravida  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  pallidus  tenuis;  apothecia  parva  irregularia  conferta 
innata  fuscesentia  lecanorina  intus  incoloria ;  sporse  (4  -  8)nse 
incolores  obovatae,  utrovis  apice  attenuate,  1  -  septate,  paraphyses 
irregulares  indistincte ;  hypothecium  incolor.  Iodo  gel.  hym. 
haud  tincta  sed  gel.  subhymenialis  leviter  ccerulescens.  Thecae 
arthonioideae.  Corticola  prope  Chinsurah.  Arete  aflinis  A.  pan- 
danicolne. 

The  apothecia  are  closely  set,  and  are  often  oblong  or  linear 
and  curved,  <fcc. 

Arthonia  cinnabarina  assumes  in  Dr.  Watt's  collection  a  great 
diversity  of  form  and  appearance,  but  as  the  internal  organization 
is  pretty  uniform  throughout  the  series,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
attempt  a  definition  in  any  case  except  one. 

Arthonia  cinnabarina  (Wall). 
*  comitata  (Strn). 

Thallus  virescens,  vel  olivaceo-virescens  tenuis;  apothecia  rubri- 
cosa  sessilia  parva  rotundata  plana  albiclo-velata,  saipissimc  aggre- 
gata  intus  incoloria  sed  purpurascenti-adspersa;  spone  8  nsd  incolores 
vetuste  fuscescentes  obovate  (infra  acutiuscula?)  4  -  6  -  septate 
vel  potius  5  -  7  -  loculares  (loculo  superiori  multo  raajore),  02  — 
03  X  007  -  009  mm. ;  hypothecium  incolor.  Iodo  gel.  hym. 
ccerulescens  dein  violacea.     Corticola. 


Dr.  J.  Stirton  oil  Mte  Lic/tetcoloyg  of  India.  319 

The  subsequent  reaction  is  peculiar  in  this  as  in  the  other  form, 
and  the  colour  that  approaches  most  closely  to  it  is  that  called 
"  mauve. '' 

Arthonia  inconspicua  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  vix  ullus  visibilis;  apothecia  sessilia  plana  rotundata 
alba  vel  albo-farinosa,  parva  (latit.  '1  -  *2  mm.)  intus  incoloria; 
sporae  (6  —  8)nae  incolores  dein  fuscescentes  obovatae  2  —  4  -  sep- 
tatae  rarissime  5  -  septa  tee  (loculo  superiori  multo  ampliore)  *018  - 
•025  x  '007  -  -0085  mm.,  paraphyses  valde  irregulares  et  indis- 
tinctee;  hypothecium  incolor.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  luteo-rufescens  dein 
vinose  violacea.     Corticola  (Neilgherries). 

Arthonia  abnormis  (Ach.) 
*  insita  (Strn.) 

The  Indian  specimens  show  little  or  no  reaction  with  Iodine,  and 
may  constitute  a  sub-species,  more  especially  as  a  thin  section  of 
the  thalmium  shows  a  cinereofuscous  tint  under  the  microscope. 

Arthonia  recedens  (sp.  nov.) 

Thallus  albus  vel  albidus  tenuis  laevigatus  indeterminatus  vel 
subdeterminatus  (iodo  leviter  coerulescens,  K.  -  C.  -  ) ;  apothecia 
minuta  nigricantia  irregularia  depresso  -  vel  foveolato-innata,  ssepe 
subvelata  et  tunc  fere  incoloria,  intus  incoloria;  sporse  8nse  in- 
colores oblongse  vel  oblongo-ellipsoideae  5  —  9  -  septata?  vel  potius 
6  -  10  -  loculares  (loculis  subquadratis),  -02  -  -032  x  *008  -  -011 
mm.,  paraphyses  indistinctee  irregulares;  hypothecium  incolor. 
Iodo  gel.  hym.  bene  coerulescens.     Corticola,  satis  frequens. 

The  young  thecal  are  seen  to  be  enveloped  by  a  hirsute  covering, 
the  mature  seldom. 

Cryptothecia  obvallata  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  albus  vel  albidus  tenuis  lcevigatus  (K.  -  C.  - ,  iodo 
coerulescens);  apothecia  nulla  visibilia;  thecae  globosse  in  mem- 
brana  extus  hirsuta  (iodo  coerulescente)  plerumque  inclusce  ;  sporse 
8nse  incolores  vol  dilute  flavescentes  oblongo-ellipsoideae,  saepe 
haloniataj  et  curvuhe  9  -  10  -  loculares  (loculis  subquadratis),  *06 
-  *09  X  '02  —  '03  mm.     Iodo  gel.  hym.  coerulescens. 

Cryptothecia  involuta  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  virescens  vel  interdum  saturate  viridis,  nonnihil  rugu- 


320  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

losus  late  expansus  bene  evolutus  (K.  -  C.  -  ,  I  leviter  ccerulescens 
vel  -  ,  sed  I  medulla  bene  ccerulescens) ;  apothecia  nulla  visibilia ; 
sporae  (6-8)  me  incolores  ellipsoideae  saepissime  curvulae,  murali- 
divisae,  035  -  '08  x  02-  -04  mm. ;  thecae  in  saccis  extus  hirsutis 
inclusse.  Iodo  neo  thecae  nee  spore  tinctae  sed  protoplasma 
ambarum  plerumque  rufescens.     Corticola. 

Cryptothccia  subtecta  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  cinerascens  tenuis  nonnihil  farinaceus  (C.  — ;  I  -  ) ; 
thecae  plerumque  prominulae  sparsae;  spore  8nae  incolores  ellip- 
soideae (episporio  tenui),  6  -  9  -  loculares  (loculis  2  -  4  -  divisis), 
•028  -  -04  x  018  -  -022  mm.  Iodo  gel.  hym.  non  tincta,  Cor- 
ticola in  horto  Dris.  Watt,  prope  Chinsurah. 

Tlie  spores  are  perfectly  elliptical,  with  thin  walls,  and  appear 
as  if  septate,  with  the  divisions  finely  divided  by  3  to  5  sections. 
The  thecaa  are  very  generally  globose,  and  have  the  usual  hirsute 
covering.  The  only  specimen  in  possession  is  small,  and  the 
surface  appears  as  if  abraded. 

Verrucaria  arctata  sp.  now 

Thallus  albus  vel  lacteus  mollis  nonnihil  squamuliformis ;  apo- 
thecia majuscula  globosa  vel  fere  ampullacea  (i.e.  collo  infra 
ostiolum  producto  et  arctato)  immersa  integre  nigra  (perithecio 
tenui)  extus  ostiolis  nigris  solum  visibilibus  sicut  in  Decampia 
Hookerii ;  spone  (6  -  8)na*  incolores,  vetustae  fuscescentes  ellip- 
soideae, 1  -  septata)  saepius  e  regione  scptorum  constrictiusculae, 
•035  —  '045  X  '014  -  '02  mm.,  paraphyscs  distinctac  longae  confertie 
molliusculae.     Iodo  thecae  vinose  rubescentes  vel  vix  coloratae. 

Ad  cortices  (vetustiores). 

Verrucaria  Nonensis  sp.  nov. 

Similis  V.  conothelense  (Nyl.)  sed  thallus  albidus  vel  pallidus, 
apothecia  dimidiatim  nigra,  (latit.  "2  -  *3  mm.);  si>ore  fusciv 
obovatae  1- septata*,  *014-  -018  x  '0055  -  0065  mm.  et  para- 
physcs breves  nonnihil  irregulares  interdum  ramosae.  Corticola 
(Neilgherries). 

The  spores  are  obovate,  with  one  loculus  larger  and  broader  than 
the  other,  and  somewhat  constricted  at  the  septum. 

Verrucaria  clavaeformis  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  macula  pallida  indicates;  apothecia  primum  thallino- 


Dr.  J.  Stirton  on  the  Lichenology  of  India.  321 

velata  demum  denudata  (saltern  supra),  dimidiatim  nigra  (latit. 
•3-  *5  mm);  sporo  8n»  fuscae  obovate  insequaliter  1- septate 
(loculo  superiori  multo  majore  et  rotundato,  inferiori  acutiusculo 
et  triangularis  -03  -  -038  x  '01  -  013  mm.,  paraphyses  breves 
nonnihil  irregulares  sed  distincte.  Corticola  (Neilgherries). 
The  spores  have  a  singular  outline,  thus  jQ 

Trypethelium  oblitescens  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  lurido-vel  cinereo-virescens  laevigatas  bene  evolutus; 
apothecia  plura  in  tuberculis  irregularibus  majusculis  (latit.  usque 
ad  3  mm.)  prominulis,  intus  aurantiaco-rufis  vel  lateritiis  inclusa 
vel  immersa,  peritheciis  globosis  integre  nigris  tenuibus;  spor» 
8nae  oblongae  incolores  demum  fuscescentes,  4  -  loculares,  016  - 
•02  x  "006  -  O07  mm.,  paraphyses  longse  filiformes  distincte  sat 
conferte.  Iodo  geL  hvm.  leviter  vel  interdum  obsolete  ccerulescens. 
Corticola. 

The  apothecia  are  scattered  pretty  thickly  in  the  red  stroma  of 
the  tubercles,  and  it  is  only  occasionally  that  they  are  confluent, 
while  the  small  prominent  ostioles  are  almost  always  distinct  and 
separate.     This  lichen  may  accordingly  be  a  Verrtuwria. 

Trypethelium  refertum  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  macula  pallida  vel  pallido-carnea  indicatas;  apothecia 
(1-4)  in  verrucis  fusco-nigris  parvis  (latit.  *4  -  *9  mm.)  depressis 
vel  parum  prominulis  inclusa,  ostiolis  parvis  massa  rubricosa 
granulosa  occlusis,  peritheciis  (propriis)  globosis  integre  nigris 
tenuibus;  sporse  8n®  incolores  vetuste  fuscescentes,  ellipsoide® 
vel  fusiformi-ellipsoideae,  plerumque  5  -  loculares,  interdum  (4  -  6) 

-  loculares  (loculis  polygoniis,  mediis  interdum  semel  divisis),  *02 

-  028  x  '01  -  *013  mm.;  paraphyses  conferte  molliusculse,  in 
massa  leviter  fuscescentes.     Iodo  gel.  hym.  haud  tincta.     Corticola. 

Platysma  Thomsoni  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  albidus  vel  pallido-albidus  (K.  fl.)  tenuiter  membrana- 
ceus  rigescens  mediocris  laciniatus,  laciniis  plerumque  adscendenti- 
bus  margine  sinuatis,  dentatis  vel  dissectofimbriatis,  subtus  niger 
et  nigro-rhizinosus ;  apothecia  spadiceo-nigra  mediocria  (latit.  3-7 
mm.),  ssepe  medio  perforata,  receptaculo  extus  lseviusculo  et  mar- 
gine tenui ;  thecse  monosporse,  sporse  incolores  ellipsoidese,  episporio 
crasso  hyalino,  contentis  lutescentibus  granulosis,  '035  -  05  x  '018 

-  *025  mm.     Iodo  thecse  coerulescentes.     Spermogonia  marginalia 
Vol.  XI.— No.  2.  y 


322  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

nigra  prominentia  verruciformia  magna  (latit  -15  -  *3  mm.);  sper- 
matia  recta,  vix  constricta,  -004  -  -005  X  00085  mm.,  sterigmati- 
bus  longis  articulatb  infixa.  Corticola  prope  Darjeeling.  Medulla 
K-C-. 

This  is  rather  an  anomalous  species,  and  might  well  be  made 
the  type  of  a  new  genus.  Its  parmelioid  habit  is  remarkable. 
The  thecse  are  always  situated  at  the  base  of  the  thalamium,  while 
the  appearance  of  the  spores  affords  a  suspicion  that  they  have  not 
reached  maturity.  Nevertheless,  apothecia  are  present  at  various 
stages  of  development,  and  in  none  is  there  shown  any  tendency 
in  the  granular  contents  of  the  spores  to  become  differentiated 
into  others. 

Physcia  incana  sp.  nov. 

Thallus  albidus  vel  pallido-albidus  vel  interdum  pallide  lutescens 
laciniato-divisus  (K  fl.),  laciniis  brevibus  adscendentibus  oonvexis 
(latit  circ  3  mm),  margine  ciliatis  (ciliis  albidis  vel  interdum 
nigrescentibus  validis  arbusculose  divisis  vel  fere  thyrsoideo- 
ramosis),  subtus  purius  albus  nudus  farinosus;  apothecia  caefiio- 
pruinosa  mediocria  (latit.  2  —  4  mm.)  pedicellato-elevata,  receptacuio 
nudo  (i.  e.  absque  ciliis)  et  margine  late  membranaceo  crenato-inciso, 
supra  farinoso,  saepe  inflexo  cincta;  spore  8nse  fuscae  1  -septate 
breviter  ellipsoidese,  034  -  -044  X  *02  -  -03  mm.  Iodo  gel  hym. 
intense  ccerulescens  prasertim  thecse.     Corticola  prope  Darjeeling. 

Arete  affinis  P.  comosae. 

The  cilia  are  entirely  confined  to  the  margins  of  the  lacuna?. 

The  two  preceding  are  from  a  fine  collection  of  f oliaceous  lichens 
in  the  possession  of  Mr.  J.  A.  Thomson  of  this  city,  who  secured 
them  several  years  ago  from  the  Himalayas  near  Darjeeling. 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corah.   323 


VL  — On  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals,  from  the  Carboniferous 
Limestone  of  Scotland.  By  James  Thomson,  F.G.S.,  Corres- 
ponding Member  of  the  Royal  Science  Society  of  Liege, 
Belgium,  and  Honorary  Member  of  the  Royal  Ducal  Society 
df  Jena,  Saxony. 


[Bead  before  the  Society,  Jannary  8,  1879.] 


Genus  Histiophyllum,*  Thomson,  Gen.  Nov. 
From  histion,  a  web;  tak&pkyUum,  a  leaf. 

Generic  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  cylindro-conical,  moder- 
ately tall,  and  slightly  curved.  The  epitheca  is  usually  thin,  there 
are  annulations,  and  in  some  forms  delicate  encircling  lines  of 
growth;  the  calice  is  usually  shallow,  and  more  or  less  everted, 
and  the  centre  of  its  floor  is  occupied  by  a  boss,  which  is  slightly 
raised  above  the  inner  margin  of  the  primary  septa,  on  the  dorsal 
or  convex  side,  and  more  or  less  depressed  or  concave  on  the 
ventral  side.  The  lamellae  pass  from  the  inner  margin  of  the 
primary  septa  inwards.  Those  of  the  convex  side  extend  for  two- 
thirds  of  the  width  of  the  columellarian  area,  where  they  coalesce, 
and  form  a  more  or  less  irregular  rod,  which  in  some  forms  stop 
short  of  the  septal  fossula  (PL  I.,  Fig.  1,  DPI.  IX,  Fig.  3);  whilst 
in  others  the  lamella?  converge  inwards  and  downwards  into  the 
depression,  and  are  attached  to  a  latro-median  plate,  which  more 
or  less  extends  into  the  fossula  on  the  ventral  or  concave  side  of 
the  corallum,  which  in  outline  resembles  a  fan.  (See  PL  I.,  Fig.  2.) 
In  a  corallum  of  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter,  the  columellarian 
area  is  about  five  lines  broad. 

The  septa  are  well  developed,  and  of  two  orders — the  primary 
never  extending  further  inwards  than  the  outer  margin  of  the 
central  area,  and  exhibiting  laminae   for  half  their  length  from 


*  I  beg  to  offer  my  thanks  to  Prof.  H.  A.  Nicholson,  M.D.,  D.Sc, 
F.R.S.E.,  for  suggesting  the  name  for  this  group  of  corals. 


324  Philosophical  Society  of  Glatgota. 

their  inner  ends,  while  towards  the  periphery  they  are  thin,  and 
more  or  less  flexuous,  and  the  secondary  septa  are  considerably 
shorter,  and  sometimes  hardly  recognisable. 


They  are  united  by  interseptal  dissepiments,  which  are  sparse, 
and  more  or  less  rectangular  near  their  inner  ends,  but  usually 
Abundant,  and  angular  towards  the  periphery. 

There  is  a  well  marked  septal  fosnula — 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  Sew  Genus  of  Rugose  Corah,    325 

Longitudinal  section  exhibits  the  triareal  arrangement  of  the- 
internal  structure.  The  central  area  is  composed  of  thin  discon- 
tinuous lamellar  plates,  which  are  united  by  more  or  less  remote 
tabulae,  which  are  usually  slightly  convex  on  the  dorsal  and 
concave  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum.  The  intermediate 
area  ("  interlocular  area  ")  is  occupied  by  convex  tabulae;  convexity 
upwards  and  inwards,  and  which  unite  the  inner  ends  of  the 
primary  septa.  The  outer  area  ("  interseptal  area  ")  is  occupied  by 
a  zone  of  irregular  lenticular  convex  cells,  convexity  upwards  and 
inwards,  and  arranged  in  obliqne  rows. 

The  genus  which  I  propose  establishing  is  for  the  reception  of 
a  group  of  corals  that  has  been  known  to  me  for  the  last  fifteen 
years.  They  form  a  natural  and  intermediate  group  between  the 
genus  KoninckophyUum,  and  the  genus  fihodophyllum,  and  some 
of  the  species  present  characters  in  some  respects  that  belong  to 
the  genus  Aspidiophyllum.  In  some  of  the  forms  there  appears 
to  be  so  natural  and  intimate  a  relation  to  either  of  those  genera, 
that  I  have  long  hesitated  to  create  for  their  reception  a  distinct 
and  separate  genus.  Indeed,  before  I  finally  determined  to  sepa- 
rate them,  and  place  them  into  a  distinct  group,  I  submitted  a 
number  of  varieties  to  several  of  our  ablest  palaeontologists, 
both  Continental  and  British,  and  more  especially  to  my  friend 
Mr.  Robert  Eatheredge,  Sen.,  F.R.S.,  London.*  He  had  them  for 
some  time,  and  carefully  examined  them,  along  with  a  considerable 
number  of  other  genera  that  have  been  established,  as  well  as 
others  that  are  yet  to  be  considered.  The  present  group  he  marked 
with  the  letter  G,  as  being  distinct  and  separable  from  all  existing 
genera.  As  has  been  formerly  stated,  f  it  is  often  difficult  to  define 
the  boundary  line  between  each  genus  and  its  nearest  allies,  and 
in  none  more  than  the  group  under  consideration;  yet,  after 
careful  observation,  I  believe  that  the  intermediate  forms  may  be 
classed  into  a  natural  and  distinct  genus.  Therefore,  while  we 
have  thus  examples  which  might  be  referred  to  either  of  the 
allied  groups,  I  have,  however,  selected  from  amongst  upwards 
of  sixty  varieties  central  types,  from  which  the  groups  diverge  in 
different  directions.  Some  of  the  types  are  cut  at  six  different 
parts  of  the  corallum,  in  order  to  know  if  the  generic  and 
specific   characters  were   continuous   from   the    superior  to    the 

*  To  whom  I  beg  to  offer  my  cordial  thanks  for  aiding  me  in  classifying 
this  group. 

t  British  Association  Transactions,  1872,  p.  241. 


326  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

inferior  extremity  of  the  corallum;  as  I  am  aware  that  structural 
differences  do  present  themselves,  arising  from  injury  and  other 
causes  during  the  life  of  the  polyp.  (See  PL  III.,  Fig.  4.)  Such, 
however,  is  exceptional.  In  the  great  majority  of  cases  the 
structural  characters  in  the  central  area,  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
growth,  are  usually  the  prototype  of  the  mature  corallum — unless 
in  Buch  cases  as  those  where  the  growth  has  been  interfered  with, 
and  in  passage  forma  Indeed,  I  have  adopted  that  precaution  in  all 
groups  that  have  passed  through  my  hands — a  precaution  all  the 
more  necessary  from  the  fact  that,  during  the  life  and  secretion  of 
the  sclaradermic  matter  by  the  polypi,  numerous  incidents  might 
intervene  which  would  give  rise  to  altered  conditions;  as  each 
condition  would  produce  structural  differences,  which  would  be 
misleading,  and  calculated  to  provoke  the  introduction  of  unneces- 
sary  and  duplicating  species.  In  Plate  III.,  Fig.  4,  we  have  a 
good  example  of  how  the  structural  characters  can  be  affected. 

As  above  stated,  there  are  intermediate  forms  in  all  the  groups, 
which  present  characters  that  closely  link  them  to  other  genera. 
Such  forms  I  have  carefully  set  aside  until  I  am  able  to  carry  out 
my  proposed  method  of  arrangement,  when  I  hope  to  show  so 
close  a  relation  between  each  genus  and  its  next  ally,  that  even 
the  greatest  opponent  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution  will  find  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  drawing  the  boundary  line.  Yet  I  am 
persuaded  that,  for  purposes  of  classification,  it  is  necessary  to 
select  and  group  such  intermediate  forms  as  form  central  links  in 
a  continued  series. 

The  genus  HistiophyUum  agrees  with  Koninckophyllum,  in  the 
possession  of  a  central  rod  in  some  forms,  and  with  Rhode- 
phyUum  and  AspidophyUvrnt,  in  the  possession  of  a  large  central 
area,  the  superior  extremity  of  which  projects  more  or  less  above 
the  inner  ends  of  the  primary  septa. 

The  structural  details,  as  exhibited  in  the  central  area  of  the 
corallum,  I  believe  are  sufficient  to  warrant  us  in  separating 
Hi8tiophyllum  from  either  of  the  above  genera,  and  I  shall  now 
point  out  wherein  they  differ  from  each  other. 

Firstly, — The  genus  Koninckophyllum  is  distinguished  by  the 
possession  of  a  compact  and  laterally  compressed  styliform  colum- 
ella in  the  centre  of  its  floor,  which  in  longitudinal  sections  forma 
a  thin  median  line,  which  is  usually  continuous  from  the  superior 
to  the  inferior  part  of  the  corallum ;  and  the  space  between  the 
columella  and  the  inner  ends  of  the  primary  septa  is  occupied  by 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  New  Genus  of  Rugose  Corals.    327 

tabulae,  which  are  flat  in  some  forms,  whilst  in  others  the  tabulae 
are  slightly  raised  near  the  columella  in  the  central  area  (see 
PL  III.,  Fig.  6a),  which,  as  seen  in  a  transverse  section,  forms  a 
a  compact  median  rod,  and  is  often  surrounded  by  a  few  irregular 
sub  convolute  lines.  The  latter  represent  the  cut  edges  of  the 
successive  tabulae,  as  they  become  elevated  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
columella  (PL  III,  Fig.  6). 

Secondly, — In  the  genus  RhodophyUum  the  central  area  is 
formed  of  vertical  lamellae,  which  are  sub-convolute,  and  fold 
round  an  imaginary  axis  (PL  III.,  Fig.  1),  and  present  a  round 
boss  in  the  centre  of  the  floor  of  the  calice,  which,  in  a  transverse 
section,  is  seen  to  be  united  by  tabulae  more  or  less  remote.  In  a 
longitudinal  section  the  lamellae  are  discontinuous,  and  directed 
outwards  and  upwards,  and  united  by  concave  tabulae. 

Thirdly % — In  the  genus  Aspidophyllum  the  boss  in  the  centre  of 
the  floor  of  the  calice  is  helmet-shaped,  which  is  round  on  the 
superior  extremity  on  the  concave  side  (PL  III.,  Figs.  2  and  2a), 
and  tapering  down  to  the  fossula,  which  is  usually  situated  on  the , 
convex  or  dorsal  side  of  the  corallum,  and  there  is  a  median 
lamella,  which  passes  for  two-thirds  of  the  breadth  of  the  crown  of 
the  helmet-shaped  boss,  and  downwards  into  the  fossula  as  a 
prominent  ridge. 

With  these  points  of  resemblance,  there  are  the  following 
differences  to  be  noted  in  the  forms  respectively  referable  as  allied 
to  the  genus  HistiophyUum: — 

(1.)  In  Koninckophyllum  there  is  a  compressed  median  rod, 
and  the  space  or  central  floor  of  the  calice  is  occupied  by  tabulae, 
which  in  some  forms  are  flat,  whilst  in  others  the  tabulae  are  more  or 
less  raised  towards  the  columellarian  rod;  while  in  those  forms 
of  HistiophyUum  that  are  allied,  the  columellarian  rod  extends  to 
the  fossula  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum  (PL  IEL,  Figs. 
5,  5a,  and  5b),  and  the  tabulae  are  more  or  less  intersected  by 
lamellae,  which  converge  and  coalesce  with  the  latro-median  plate  on 
the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum,  and  present  in  the  floor  of  the 
calice  a  more  or  less  dome-shaped  aspect  on  the  dorsal,  and 
concave  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum.  It  is  noteworthy 
that,  in  all  the  forms  I  have  yet  examined,  the  development  of  the 
lamellae  begins  eta  the  concave  or  ventral  side  of  the  corallum,  and 
when  the  columellarian  rod  extends  to  near  the  fossula,  we 
frequently  have  present  the  lamellae  in  the  first  stage  of  develop- 
ment on  the  dorsal  side  of  the  columellarian  rod,  a  characteristic 


328  PkUo§opkusal  Society  of  Glasgow. 


which  is  usually  present  in  those  passage  forms  in  which  the 
KonmekopkyUum  type  predominates  (PL  ITL,  Fig.  4). 

(2.)  In  Rhodophyllum,  the  boss  in  the  centre  of  the  floor  of  the 
calice  is  round  in  outline,  and  formed  by  sub-convolute  lmm^lW 
(PL  IIL,  Fig.  1),  whilst  in  the  allied  forms  of  HMophyQum  the 
lamellae  are  more  or  less  sub-convolute  on  the  dorsal,  and  converge 
to  the  ventral  side  of  the  central  area,  where  they  descend  and 
pass  down  into  the  fossula  on  the  convex  side  of  the  corallum 
(PL  L,  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3;  PL  II,  Figs.  1a,  1b,  and  \c\ 

(3.)  In  AspidophyUum,  the  calicinal  boss  is  prominent  and 
helmet-shaped  in  outline  (PL  ELL,  Fig.  2),  and  the  median 
lamella  passes  over  the  boss  for  two-thirds  of  its  width,  and 
descends  into  the  fossula  in  the  dorsal  side  of  the  corallum,  and 
in  a  longitudinal  section  the  central  lamella  is  single,  and 
continuous  from  the  superior  to  the  inferior  portion  of  the 
corallum,  and  the  lamella?  converge  towards  the  centre  of  the 
floor  of  the  calice.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  allied  forms 
of  Ifisliophyllum  the  median  lamella  extends  slightly  beyond  the 
centre  of  the  central  area,  the  lamellae  are  more  or  less  sub- 
convolute,  and  converge  to  and  coalesce  with  the  latro-median 
plate,  and  the  boss  in  the  centre  of  the  calicular  cavity  is  scarcely 
raised  in  some  forms,  and  in  others  slightly  raised  above  the  inner 
ends  of  the  primary  septa  on  the  dorsal,  and  depressed  on  the 
ventral  side  of  the  corallum,  and  the  false  columellarian  rod  is 
more  or  less  double,  a  result  produced  by  the  sub-convolute 
lamella?  converging  and  coalescing  with  the  Intro  mesial  plate 
that  descends  into  the  depression  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  centra] 
area,  where  it  passes  more  or  less  into  the  fossula  on  the  convex 
side  of  the  corallum. 

In  the  genus  HistiophyUum  the  central  area  is  occupied  by  a 
boss,  which  is  slightly  raised  above  the  inner  ends  of  the  septa  on 
the  convex  side  of  the  corallum,  and  formed  of  sub-convolute 
lamellae,  which  extend  for  two-thirds  of  the  width  of  the  central 
area,  and  converge  to  a  latro-median  plate,  which  bends  sharply 
downwards,  and  passes  more  or  less  into  the  septal  fossula,  on  the 
concave  side  of  the  corallum,  so  that,  in  a  transverse  section,  the 
cut  ends  of  the  lamellae  assume  a  more  or  less  fasciculate  or  web- 
shaped  aspect,  and  expand  towards  the  outer  margin  of  the  central 
area  on  the  convex  side  of  the  corallum  (PL  I.,  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3; 
PL  II.,  Figs.  1,  1a,  and  1b).  In  those  forms  that  are  closely 
allied  to  Koninekophyllum,  the  latro-median  plate  extends  inwards 


Mr.  James  Thomson  on  a  New  Genua  of  Rugose  Corals.    329 

to  the  centre  of  the  central  area,  and  the  lamellae  are  thin  and 
indistinct,  and  in  a  longitudinal  section  expose  a  columella 
composed  of  two  vertical  rods,  arising  from  the  union  of  the 
lamellae  on  the  concave  side  of  the  corallum,  and  the  lamellae  are 
intersected  by  tabulae,  which  are  more  or  less  remote. 

In  another  -variety  of  Histiophyttum,  which  in  some  respects 
are  related  to  Rhodophyllum,  the  boss  in  the  centre  of  the  calice 
is  more  or  less  dome-shaped  on  the  convex  side  of  the  corallum, 
and  raised  above  the  inner  ends  of  the  septa ;  while  in  the  con- 
cave side  of  the  corallum  a  portion  of  the  central  area  is  concave, 
and  the  lamellae  converge  inwards  and  downwards,  coalesce,  and  are 
intersected  by  a  latro-median  plate,  while  in  a  transverse  section 
the  lamellae  are  more  or  less  sub-convolute  on  the  convex  side  of 
the  corallum,  and  usually  for  two-thirds  of  the  width  of  the  central, 
while  on  the  concave  side  a  portion  of  the  central  area  is  concave, 
and  the  lamellae  converge  downwards,  coalesce,  and  are  intersected 
by  the  latro-median  plate,  which  passes  more  or  less  into  the  septal 
fossulae  on  the  ventral  side  of  this  corallum  (PI.  L,  Fig.  1 ; 
PI.  III.,  Fig.  3a).  In  a  longitudinal  section  of  this  variety  the 
lamellae  are  irregular  and  discontinuous,  and  united  by  tabulae, 
which  are  more  or  less  convex  on  the  dorsal  and  concave  on  the 
ventral  side  of  the  corallum  (PI.  I.,  Fig.  1a). 

In  another  variety  of  Htstiophyllum,  the  boss  in  the  centre  of  the 
floor  of  the  calice  is  slightly  vaised  above  the  inner  ends  of  the 
septa  on  the  dorsal,  and  concave  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum, 
and  the  latro-median  plate  usually  extends  beyond  the  centre  of  the 
central  area.  In  a  longitudinal  section  there  is  a  continuous, 
apparently  double  columellarian  line,  rendered  double  by  the 
fusion  of  the  lamellae,  which  converge  into  and  coalesce  on  each 
side  of  the  central  area,  and  the  tabula  are  more  or  less  convex  on 
the  dorsal  and  concave  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum  (PI.  I., 
Figs.  3  and  3a). 

In  all  cases  the  central  area  is  more  or  less  raised  above  the 
inner  ends  of  the  septa  on  the  dorsal  and  depressed  on  the  ventral 
side  of  the  corallum. 

The  combination  of  characters  presented  in  HistiophyUum  is  such 
as  to  place  the  distinctness  of  the  genus  beyond  doubt — the 
convex  aspect  of  the  dorsal  and  the  concavity  on  the  ventral  side 
of  the  central  area,  which  in  a  transverse  section  is  more  or  less 
fasciculate.  The  lamellae,  which  converge,  and  form  the  latro- 
median  plate  usually  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum,  and  expand 


330  Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow. 

towards  the  dorsal  aide  of  the  oondlmn,  and  become  more  or  leas 
web-ahaped  towards  the  inner  ends  of  the  primary  septa  in  the 
dorsal  side  of  the  central  area,  are  sufficient  to  warrant  us  in 
creating  a  new  genus  for  their  reception. 

Histiophylluni.     Ramsayi.     Sp.  nov. 
Plate  I.,  Figs.  1  and  1a. 

Specific  Characters. — Corallum  simple,  cylindro-conical,  curved, 
and  moderately  tall;  epitheca  thin,  with  delicate  encircling  striae, 
and  shallow  annulations  of  growth;  calice  shallow,  and  the  central 
area  is  occupied  by  lamellar  ridges,  which  are  slightly  raised  above 
the  inner  ends  of  the  primary  septa  on  the  dorsal  and  depressed  on 
the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum.  The  septa  are  of  two  orders,  the 
primary  are  lamellar  for  two-thirds  of  their  length  from  their  inner 
ends,  when  they  become  single,  delicate,  and  flexuous  towards  the 
periphery,  and  the  secondary  septa  are  about  a  line  and  half  long. 
They  bend  at  their  inner  ends  and  become  attached  to  the  primary 
septa.  There  are  64  primary  and  an  equal  number  of  secondary 
septa,  and  each  is  united  by  irregular  and  angular  interseptal 
dissepiments.  The  central  area  is  circular,  and  seven  lines  in 
diameter,  and  in  a  transverse  section  exhibits  the  cut  ends  of  the 
vertical  lamella;,  which  are  sub-convolute,  and  converge  towards 
the  fossula  on  the  ventral  side  of  the  corallum,  where  they  more  or 
less  coalesce,  and  form  an  irregular  rod,  which  passes  to  near  the 
fossula.  The  longitudinal  section  is  triareal;  in  the  central  area 
.  there  are  thin  discontinuous  columellarian  lines,  and  each  is  united 
by  irregular  minute  tabula;.  The  intermediate  ("interl ocular") 
area  is  occupied  by  convex  tabula;.  The  outer  ("  interseptal")  area 
is  occupied  by  irregular  lenticular  convex  cells,  convexity  inwards 
and  upwards,  and  arranged  in  oblique  rows.  The  fossula  is  small, 
and  two  of  the  primary  septa  in  it  are  of  shorter  length  than  the 
others ;  and  a  portion  of  the  central  area  passes  into  it. 

Height  of  corallum,  5  inches;  diameter  of  section,  1£  inch. 

Formation,  Carboniferous;  Locality. — Found  in  a  bed  of  shale, 
which  is  interstratified  with  the  thin  bands  of  limestone  which 
characterize  the  upper  members  of  the  lower  carboniferous  lime- 
stone in  the  West  of  Scotland.  Found  at  Brockley,  near  Lesma- 
hagow,  Lanarkshire.  This  species